The sun finally came out.
We walked the melting snow,
bits of sidewalk sparkling
beneath blue puddles
bathed in light – a symbol, we said,
of the pandemic’s end.
Outside the coffee shop
four little old ladies sat talking,
and while Julia bought our lattes I joined
them, our neighbours, who were
predatory landlords conniving
to kick their tenants out
the moment evictions came back.
I can’t wait to be rid of that woman, one said,
while a bird danced in a bare bush.
Then we walked to the water and watched
the seagulls, adrift above the ice floes.