My daughters’ voices pretend in the attic.
_           _ They’ve set up house there,
the skinny ladder disappearing into the ceiling.
I’m lying on my workbench,
_           _ towels under my head.
Pretend, Molly says to Anna in the attic,
_            that I’m your sister and our dad died._

A car drives up at my neighbors’ house,
_           _ I see a dirty headlight.
My teenage neighbor, who is having a party,
comes out onto her driveway,
_           _ and the way she holds the door for her friend
reminds me of Molly
_           _ when she is a traffic monitor at her elementary school,
but this driver steps out crying,
and she yells to my neighbor:
_            My mom is a fucking bitch!_

I take Molly to school early
_           _ so she can be a traffic monitor.
She pretends that she doesn’t see me
_           _ sitting in my truck in the parking lot
_           _ making sure she is okay.
She wears a yellow safety sash,
opens doors, lets kids out, never smiles.
_            Good morning, welcome to school,_
pretend I’m your sister,
_            pretend you are my brother,_
_                        pretend our parents are dead. _