-Timeline-

1.
In Boulder, Colorado

The mountains during twilight glow
Red-violet at their peaks,

Bluing on the slide to darkness.

From the kitchen window

Facing that way, this is the setting scene

As she washes the dinner dishes.

Everything exhales across Boulder,

In measured disposition of the day's activities.

There's a quiet nature to eventide 

Inside the house not far from the mountains.

The dishtowel wipes dry her hands

As she looks around the kitchen assuring herself

That her efforts have accomplished something meaningful.

Through the narrow hallway

To the small living-room,

He cons the television's reception

Tuning its manufactured knobs

And negotiating its rabbit-ears

In figure eight patterns as the kids

In full-faith in his abilities

Gather on the rug to stake their claims.

(He slaps the television's cabinet on its broadside

Causing a tantalizing flash of something recognizable
Through the static phosphorescence.

He knows the nightly routine like no other.)

With the dishes stacked away she looks upon

The recurring timeline of the living room

Leaning her shoulder on the wall of the hallway.

Outside, the streetlights strengthen and soon

Blanch the stars with an incandescent light

And sounds are muted.

Inside, the kitchen is dark and ready for morning as

The mountains begin their retreat

From the glancing windows of Boulder.

2.
Inside the first-floor tenement in Fall River, Massachusetts,

Boulder's evening narratives are two hours done

And as is its custom, more noisily articulated.

Outside, as seen through the parlor's windows,

The darkened ballpark across the street is two hours empty.