That Old Man; that Bush

The old man smells like sunscreen; those bushes by the fence smell like bug spray

That old man with the white hair and white cap; that bush stuck with flags of red, white, and blue

That old man handles the old lawnmower; that bush vibrant in its own, still space

That old man with hearing aids, his heart more sensitive than his ears to his backyard's summer playlist of a dirge

Birdbath's trickles; splashes on the fence, too, from the neighborhood pool party; vinyl flags flap at the heat

That old man looks upon the bush, stirred by memories of flags at the cemetery

That old man feelingly parts the bush; that bush, concealing a statue of a man-in-uniform

Which once was set at the headstone of a friend of

That old man's

The smell of sunscreen and bug spray salutes the memorial.