Two Conversations

TWO CONVERSATIONS

There was a great photo in the news this morning;

two  older men facing each other on an Athens street

having an animated discussion  about the debt crises in Greece.

 

The man on the right was bent toward the other,

his left fist clenched and his right jabbing the air near

the other man’s ear.

 

The talker on the left had his back arched and both arms

were pointed skyward with open hands  facing the other speaker ,

a dismissive gesture that said, “oh, stop the nonsense!”

 

It was quite unlike the calm and gentle scene

I happened upon while leaving the library

after returning a nearly overdue book.

 

Down Dale Avenue, about fifty feet away, a man and a woman

were quietly speaking to each other over the fence

that runs along the sidewalk.

 

The woman’s head was comfortably supported by her bent arm

which was propped up by the top rung of the fence.

But I’ll not write about the utility of fences;

that, as I remember, has already been done quite well.

 

The two stood in a spotlight of sun

framed by a bending tree trunk , and by shadows

on nearby buildings and those cast by the fence

aimed at the sidewalk.

 

They were relaxed and attentive to what the other had to say.

It was a conversation, listening as well as speaking.

Of course, what they were talking about is none of my business,

but I bet it wasn’t the debt crisis in Greece.

Marty Luster