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Empty Nesters
Sarah Stern

When I stop and think of my parents

adjusting their bicycles on the car

as they head west, there’s a tenderness

in the inquiry.

Mom wrote travel notes on the back

of a Tucson gas station flyer advertising

oil changes and more. Her observations: Hot.

Almost lost the bikes. One tent pole

missing, but we made do.

Her night sky. Cassiopeia. Rock

formations. Dad’s additions:

Spoke to English tourists today. Lots of them.

I see my parents tighten the bike-rack straps.

They get back in the car and pull away.

—
Sarah Stern is the author of We Have Been Lucky in the Midst of Misfortune, But Today is Different, and Another Word for Love. Recipient of two Pushcart Prize nominations, Stern is also a five-time winner of the Bronx Council on the Arts’ BRIO Award for Poetry.

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