Roofs
By Joe Betz
Baked red or painted. We sat on top
Of many houses and said great things
About the way the sun sets and saw
Cats eating birds out of the tree. Out of
The tree all day. And we were sad
For a little bit and then the subject
Changed. Today the gray clouds
Make everything look like socks,
Like a bucket of water in the shade.
The pranks are never really pranks.
A boy watered flowers and we called
Out his name. His name was not Robert.
But something like Robert and he stopped
Watering and sat by us and was sad when
The cats ate birds from the tree, but we
Were on the roof and no one looked at us
Looking at the sun. At the sun all day.
The pranks are never really pranks.
Joe Betz is an Assistant Professor of English at Ivy Tech Community College. He lives in Bloomington, IN with his wife and daughter. Other poems
appear in journals such as Hayden’s Ferry Review, Natural Bridge, and
Michigan Quarterly Review.