There are reactions to a moment
that come across as wrong, as psychotic
or narcissistic or indistinguishably crazy;

the person who sees them has a hard time
knowing what to say, what to put down
in their report, how to respond.

What they should know is simple:
the man or woman or otherwise — we are
not choosing — let us say the person they face

is in question. Let us say he or she
or they is one of those who sits quite
demurely, legs quite together, hands

clasping each other quite silently
as if in an older place, satisfied to just sit,
no need to worry or fret. Let us further say

that the observer is just as apparently calm
and unbothered by any noise. So
the two of them sit unbothered.

Two people sit silently. When
does that happen naturally?
All over the country people

are nervous about each other, about
what they are thinking and what they
might say, but here

there is a reason for unnatural science
and that is why they sit so —
like mountains, like waves, like an unspoken

plan. One clears their throat.
The other shifts their seat. Outside
a sparrow, a common sparrow, sits

and then flits away. They might sit
a while longer. One might make a note
about it when it’s done. The other

might just go home to their dragons,
their chimeras. Shake it off.
Make dinner, watch TV, then sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
onward,
T