jessie knoles

BUY IT

I want to go to the symphony
Put on my mohair sweater
The one I bought at the steamy estate sale
While you waited in the coffee shop
Drinking your espresso
And then the car

In line behind me stood a woman
Whose husband died slowly
About five years ago
I read his blog occasionally

She doesn’t know me but I know
Her intimately, know about
The worst time in her life, I think

She is loud and full of something

Below us on the first floor
A different woman tried on a sweater
We stood above her waiting in line
The sweater was admittedly beautiful

As the woman stared at herself in the mirror
The widow shouted, first quietly and then louder,
Yes – yes -yes – this is a yes – buy it

I’m not sure if the woman bought it

But I am sure that I bought
The mohair sweater and
The widow had a good morning
And you drank espresso alone in a warm coffee shop
And now you are carefully making us dinner
And I am looking up tickets to the symphony

And there is a warmth over all of us

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jessie knoles lives in central Illinois, where she works with archival records and special collections. She has a website: jessieknoles.com (http://jessieknoles.com/).