(Composed in December 2020)
What to do with a day
In which you meet a
Bent-over woman in a
Maroon coat
Huddling by a grocery cart filled with her entire
Life?
A day
In which there was almost
No room in the women’s shelter,
Even for an old, bent-over woman with a grocery cart.
Because of
No staff,
Too many needs
Covid.
What to do with a day
In which a glowing
Young woman in a
White swiping gown
Glides down the aisle toward her
Groom,
Beaming,
Tear-sparkling?
A day
In which there was
Still enough room in the sanctuary
For a joy
You could almost press between your fingers
Because despite
Face-masks,
Limited guests,
Covid,
A man and a woman promising to love and live and die for each other
Twinkles of the wedding we are all
Still
Waiting for.
What to do with a day filled both with
Grocery carts and glittering gowns,
Sterile homeless shelters and first dances,
Rain and uproarious applause?
What to do with a
Man
Whose tattered underwear flapped in the wind
Smeared with fresh blood,
Naked,
Alone,
Thirty-three years after
No more room in the inn?
What to do with the same
Man
Who waits in Groom’s robes
Sparking white
Face fixed on his Bride-to-be,
Beaming and tear-sparkling?