Touched

When she asked I hesitated
thinking the answer would be mistaken
for flippancy, for denigration, for shallowness
temptation almost delivered
then paused
slow
as if being thought about
“nnnooo…. nothing I can think of.”

The face opposite is attentive
the tongue within unfamiliarly still.
For the past seven days
procedures and protocols explained had been dismissed
with, “THAT WILL CHANGE.”

Now the last afternoon
the last will and testament.
Did the departing one have any advice?
Eyes invite confidence
silence gathers and yields
exhaling a single sentence : absurd and true.

“If I had talked more and worked less
I would have been more successful.”
The strangest bequest
living about to be ghost – dead men tell no tales or lies.

Confession unexpected and brutal
a space which words cannot enter
sternness is abandoned
a hand is placed on the defeated knee
lingering
the tone is soft
loving
“it hasn’t been easy here for you has it.”