who asks this question with intent to judge
Jesus said let him who casts
we know how it ends
yet here we are calling up the solicitor in order to stand before the judge
of our days we have grown too acrimonious with desire to connect
that seems to need to stand before the gavel of another
my sister asks for an eye opening experience
seeking stories to jab ber on about
between the three of us
leaving the parents in the space between
unwittingly the victims of our litigious collective
I will not hold hands with this
I want to up level the tender we must pay in order to be together
this cynicism too costly a price
I will tell the story of the tears in my father’s eyes as he learned a close friend passed away
I will speak of the beautiful woman with whom I got to laugh and make laugh
help her retrieve her cane and smile as we went our separate ways
I will talk about the courage it takes to be here when so much of this place is made for the leaving
and the lessons even I can lean into the visitor I am just passing through
I can not join in the judgement
I have no voice for the critical
I no longer take up the arm of cynicism
the weight has been too much
and I must carry only what is mine