Rope Swing

by Emily H. Axelrod

We looped a rope
over a sturdy branch
one late fall day,
and swung high over the hill
above the sprawling hospital
where inpatients paced
on porches caged in wire.
A young man watched us
every afternoon,
joking in a loud voice
through the trees.
When he stopped appearing
we wondered where he had gone,
as we had all fallen
just a little bit in love.