When

When the air changes on the first day of September

When I look out over a crunchy frozen field

When I find a box of crumbling 1960s science fiction paperbacks

When I’m sick

When I see a black polyester button-down

When I travel to another city

When someone smokes a cig

When I see a flowerpot of geraniums

When I see crude grave markers on a wooded hillside

When someone has an ammo stand in the parking lot by the Gander Mountain Goodwill

When I see a calico cat

When I see a stash of VHS tapes with handwritten labels

When I see footage of the Clinton administration

When I see a cassette recorder

When I paint my nails

When I speed over the Rt. 10 Bridge 

When the camera cuts to Courtney Love at the Fleetwood Mac reunion tour

When I walk down an art-lined high school hallway to get to my polling place

When I survey the landscape from a hotel balcony

When the maple treetops flush red 

When I pull the strap of a slip dress over my shoulder