We should get together every month!
I offered,
perhaps a bit too hastily
perhaps with a lilt of desperation.
I had found a community of women
with whom to hold hands.
To share life, share bread,
share laughter and possibly -
could I dare to hope? - share tears
Oh, but we do!
they replied
a momentary forgetfulness -
this was the first I'd been asked along
followed by a half-beat of silence, and
unspoken, it hung in the air
awkward and trembling:
while you have joined us this time,
please don't expect
to be asked again.
