For Fifty Years
When did they meet?
It’s hazy now—but
comfortably they are four
and sometimes two plus two
the wives gloat about grandchildren
not better than but perfect in their own light
and share sadness
not always so easy to share
but easier if shared
two play word games quite competitively
though one is not yet skillful enough
two talk boat lore
and are happiest messing about at the shore
and all four grow older
limiting the talk of ailments
to no more than 10 minutes of the hour.
And they ignore each other’s decline
the shaky hands, unsteady walk
the memory lapses that scare them
still they are here
and testify to friendship
Lari Smith