We stayed in Seattle for 2 months when my husband had his stem-cell transplant. Our building was owned and operated by the cancer center for that purpose. We could walk to the clinic and to grocery stores. The building was across the street from a transitional housing building, which often had some lively goings-on at night. One afternoon, after the day’s medical appointments, a peregrine falcon landed on the roof directly across from our apartment. It had its dinner in its claws, a nice, fat pigeon. It landed on a square metal plate, a tidy place to devour its prey. It felt very companionable to be there, at the window, watching it expertly dismantle its meal.

sidewalk swales
built by the city
purify
rainwater before
it enters the bay