The Women

The two of them sit on the porch

basking in the sunlight

letting their toes explore the first

frost-bitten mud of spring

Talking about life and death and sex

and little Mika's school play

and how to keep on without much pain

or fear of endings

The younger woman is a seamstress

she shucks corn into a bucket 

and loves God

and is scared 

but knows what is right

The older woman is a scientist

she reads an essay on experimental economics

and is not afraid

but curious

and would never say she knows what is right

not for sure

When the sun gilts their bodies 

just before melting beneath the shadows of the highest branches 

they turn their faces to it

one with gratitude

the other wonder

and together wish their star goodnight

before 

wiping the mud off their feet 

and swinging through the screen door 

to eat with the people they love