Heaven

A shirt thin dark-haired mother bent over
her crying little girl on the playground
in front of the brick school building
in the cool late afternoon breeze

the mother's white blouse, black leather jacket
and blue jeans matched the little girl's
red, pink, white and yellow dress
amongst the colorblind

by the time the light changed

the mother had wiped the dirt
out of the wound
spoken forehead to forehead
in soft words until the tears stopped

as I drove away
there was a big smile.