Old couple walking
Early morning hand in hand
Are they talking do they need to
Maybe it’s enough just to push on
Together slower but not hampered
By legs obviously strained
Bad knees or twisted feet
Are they going to breakfast
Or coming back Sunday morning
When anybody without a dog
Thinks time to sleep in
Maybe pick the Times off the porch
Orange juice two eggs scrambled
With cheddar cheese and chives
They could be on their way
To the new coffee shop
Not a franchised Starbucks
Perhaps a local entrepreneur
You never can tell with startups
Whether they’re really homegrown
Or years later you find they’re from Dallas
But captured local appeal with clever marketing
They’re still not talking
Did they fight I can’t imagine
They looked so congenial holding hands
People who fought don’t hold hands
Not with that mutual wrap of fingers
Could be they argued late until each
Gave it up with a sigh realized again
Forty-one years is a long time to go
Without any bumps in the road
Like so many others we’ll get over this
Left it to trust grace even just happy dumb luck
They’d forget it like that horrid vacation
That cost a boodle and rained every day
Could be they just needed to get out
No this looked habitual this walking together
Like they’re keeping some promise
Made long ago that they loved the quiet
Of early Sunday mornings and
The reassurance inherent in holding hands
They felt no need for words
Not when a light squeeze
At precisely the right time
Spoke volumes
c. J.S.Manista, 2015
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