| encounter |
william
|
She came in and sat near me at the counter, | 1 |
but didn't look in my direction. | 2 |
She flattened her hair against the back of her neck with one hand | 3 |
the way she always did when she didn't want to talk. | 4 |
Finally, I: "Hi." | 5 |
Her: "Hi." | 6 |
We said nothing, then, for a while. | 7 |
Neither of us had expected | 8 |
to see eachother this soon. | 9 |
| |
Me: "What have you been up to?" | 10 |
Lonely and desperate. | 11 |
She: "I just came from talking to Tom." | 12 |
Unspoken: "About us." | 13 |
Me: "Did you tell him you were free now?" | 14 |
Bitter and hurt. | 15 |
| |
She was silent, then, again, for a while. | 16 |
| |
Finally: "It will be better for both of us, for now." | 17 |
Me, angry and childish: "Speak for yourself." | 18 |
She sighed at me the way she always did | 19 |
when I didn't understand, | 20 |
and picked up her bag and pulled on her coat | 21 |
and left without having ordered. | 22 |
| |
I stared at my coffee. | 23 |
| |
Slowly, but with quiet surprise, I realized my shirt | 24 |
was on inside-out. | 25 |
I peeled it off tiredly and put it back on. | 26 |
| |
I was motionless, then, for a while. | 27 |
| |
I sighed the way I always did | 28 |
when I didn't understand, | 29 |
took a pencil out of my pocket | 30 |
and, like a pre-teenage girl, | 31 |
drew tiny hearts on my napkin. | 32 |
(comment on this poem) |