Hobbled (Thursday Morning)
After the woman she’s with
finishes her cross, reprimanding phone-call
and sits scowling dourly….
After the large, plaster-spattered man
sitting next to her gets off the bus,
tripping over her crutches on the way out…..
The little girl with the broken leg breaks the silence
And says, “That was so funny, the other night.”
The reflecting frown becomes its own reflection
and the woman laughs loudly and says, “Yeah!! It was!!”
“Tell me again what happened?” pleads the child.
Her mother’s mouth droops,
and so do her eyes,
and so do her shoulders….
“I can’t remember,”
she murmurs.
The little girl with the broken leg in the purple cast
Turns her inquiring eyes
Toward the same nowhere
that her mom is not trying hard enough
not to see,
And the rest of the ride is silence.
