The Neighbor’s Daughter

by James Babbs

a couple of months ago
she started coming home
on the weekends
I think she goes to college
some school far away from here
maybe
in another state
I’m not sure

I don’t know what she’s studying
I never really talked to her
we’ve only exchanged occasional greetings
when both of us happened to be
outside at the same time and
she always flashes me
with this beautiful smile

sometimes I see her
just coming and going
watching her through
my living room window
traipsing across the yard
her thick red hair
sweeping past her shoulders and
cascading softly down her back

not too long ago I saw her
out there in the driveway
washing her car in
the afternoon sun
she was wearing this pair of
little short shorts and
when she bent over
her shirt kept riding up
revealing part of her lower back and
what looked to me
like a butterfly tattoo
just this small area of flesh
less than what you’d see
if she had been at the beach
but for some reason
I thought it was wonderful