House + Boat = Houseboat

“A rowboat?”

wind kicks up

rustling the tree

my sneaker falls

whacks me on the head

“Oww.”

stagger around

my shoeless feet

find the toothy gravel:

“Oh, oh, ouch.”

finish my tree-and-gravel dance

sprawl over a brick border

in the flower bed

Mom calls us to late lunch:

“Jayce, you’re not allowed to play

in the flower beds at home. Why do

you think you could play in them here?”

guess I’m too busy thinking about

the rowboat in the ghost house next door!