Tricia Knoll
Portland, Oregon, USA

Smash and Grab

Anna reported the broken backseat window and an old suitcase stolen from her Jetta in the Falmouth parking lot at 10:30 pm. She had finished off coffee, cream and a custard-filled doughnut with her cousin Luanne reliving old kid times. How Maria, her aunt, used to dress them up (including theater make-up) for seven-act plays that seemed to never end until Maria's curtains (white sheets with light-blue lace trim) that drooped over the laundry line collapsed on the laughing children.

The police response was slow on a Tuesday night mid-winter, an absence of tourists. Yes, insurance covered the window, but what about the suitcase? The police made a list of the contents the women ticked off: family photos (including photos from the plays and a wedding), Maria's horseback-riding ribbons, her state fair award for her African Warty Gourds and the green-metal box on the back seat—Maria's ashes for the memorial service in Woods Hole.

night clouds stretch thin
a clock-round moon
charged with waiting