i met her at the carwash
sitting on a steel bench
an older lady, she was…
waiting for her car
and i asked if i could share her bench
and sat myself down and waited, too
waited for my baby to be bathed
and massaged and waxed
waited while the wind
played with my hair
and the sun kissed my face and my lips
and she said to me… she said
you are a beautiful lady
and she smiled at me so brilliantly
a smile all white teeth and pink lips
and i smiled back and said thank you
you have a lovely smile
and i went back to watching my car
with a tickle… an itch… inside my heart
when, one minute later
i heard her fumble in her handbag
followed by the heavy feel of
her warm fingers on my arm
fingers that felt pleading… needing
and she said, please
i want you to look at this
and i turned in shock and surprise
because who was this stranger
and why was she touching me
so intimately? as though we
had known one another forever
and ever? it is one thing
to exchange words with strangers
but another entirely to exchange touch
and i looked at her and started
to say something… something like,
please don’t touch me. i don’t know
who you are. i’m supposed to be
anonymous, here. but
when i looked up at her face
i noticed a curious something there
a small something i hadn’t noticed
during the flicker of smiles
exchanged with our brief hello
there… a tattoo of a teardrop
at the corner of her left eye
and here… a photo in her hand
which she now held out
and said to me… again… look at this
and i found myself staring
at an image of a young lady
who bore an unmistakable
resemblance to me
same hair… same eyes…
same teeth… same smile…
is this possible?
and i looked back at the older lady
speechless… my tongue stuck
in the back of my throat
while she said to me
i have been missing my daughter
and i came here today to see her
and she clutched my hand
with her trembling fingers
and my tongue
slowly unraveled itself
slowly… while i watched
mystified
as a real teardrop
slid past the one tattooed
at the corner of her eye
will i ever
be the same again?
will she?
