It was a breeze lifting us down the street.
A current making us buoyant, light.
Invited to spend an evening with friends.
Marking Memorial Day and camaraderie.
Reminiscing about schools, trips, adolescent adjustments.
Adult adjustments.
To children bearing children.
Having to move over.
Make space for the newest.
Shifting chairs as we shimmy down the line.
Children approaching middle age.
Theirs, teen years.
Our parents, gone.
What would they think of the world today?
Dependence on social media?
Boosters with wifi?
Alexa, Siri?
Likely, they’d shake heads, sigh.
Bewildered, as, at times, am I.
In truth, preferring old fashioned ways.
Face to face conversations.
Sparking stories, laughter.
Till tears run down your cheeks.
You can’t catch your breath.
For the mirth.
You pass it around.
Like another supper course.
Everyone smiling.
Holding on to anecdotes.
The room breathing.
Animated, moving, alive.
Till table cleared.
Signaling adieu.
Time to carry away joy.
Stow it in your core.
Spirits taken care of.
Nourished, attended to.
Summoned and belonging.
In simple rendezvous.
Lynn Benjamin
May 27, 2024
