We were all we had, you know? 
We stuck together, the four of us. 
We lived out past the train tracks, 
Where the old water tower was, 
Near the soy bean fields. 
Maria used to read to us at night, 
And she'd only stop when the trains 
Got too loud, the lights streaking 
Across the windows and walls. 
When she got married, everything 
Kind of fell apart. He wasn't good to her. 
And they had so many kids so fast. 
Pedro was next to leave, for the Army. 
He was such a star, an athlete, so handsome. 
He didn't make it back from Vietnam. 
Anna and I held it down at home, but 
We'd lost so much. We both stayed in town: 
She got a job at Sears, and I worked at the 
Buster Brown. She stayed there until 
They closed a few years ago. She was sixty-eight 
When she retired. I went from job to job. 
I wasn't surprised when they told me Maria 
Was gone, she'd been exhausted for years. But 
Anna I never saw coming. How is it that four 
Turns into one? And how is it that 
The old water tower is going to outlast 
All of us?