Class Reunion

After 40 years I wonder who will come. The small Catholic women's college isn't open anymore. There's just the building, now a film institute. I've come three thousand miles to see a bunch of old women. Knowing they're old, but still surprised at how old they all look. We look. I sometimes forget to include myself.

trying on a smile –
the face in the mirror,
not what I want to see

We swap stories about marriages, divorces, death; show pictures of children, grandchildren and pets. Some bragging, some honesty, some return to that free exchange of confidences with a chosen few. My best friend: a little heavier, but the same deep voice and hearty laugh, the same vivacious personality and the same vice.

sharing a smoke
memories rise
in the warm wind

Adelaide B. Shaw, Contemporary Haibun Online, 1:1, June 2005.