Understanding
Shaded by the blue flowering wisteria, my sister
and I small talked on the recycled plastic bench
before she welled up with tears over her latest
altercation with my best friend. I believed her version
no less than the equally plausible and conflicting one
I gathered from him when he called me to gripe
the day before. She denied most everything
of his account. She simply didn’t understand how
he could be that way. She took me up on my proposal
that the three of us meet at 8 at The Pour Excuse Pub.
I called my best friend later in the day. He was on board
for our get together, though disputing her take on him
and said she was “beyond understanding.”
Into my second beer, I realized he wasn’t coming,
nor was she. I left behind the mug, half-empty
like me, and trudged home. No word from either
of them. “Just one of those things,” I decided,
and crashed out. In the morning, they woke me
with their knocking. There they were at my door,
all smiles, holding hands, inviting me to join them
for breakfast. As I opened my mouth to speak,
their extended palms signaled me to back off from any
cross examination. “It was a misunderstanding,
that’s all,” my sister explained. “Exactly,” my best friend
chimed in. I didn’t press them, and said I understood.
Cat People
Months passed and I had no luck
getting very far with her. Her veneer
was animated but her core, frosty,
impenetrable. I began to grow
tired of the game. I sent flowers
when her cat, Scampi, died,
for all the good it did me, or her,
or Scampi for that matter. I never
did see the creature for she always
had him confined to her bedroom
at the top of the stairs. All I knew
of this off-limits zone, my holy grail,
was the closed pink door keeping me
out. It was her love of Shrimp Scampi
that inspired the cat’s name
but Scampi wasn’t all that lovable.
With regularity, he’d scratch her legs,
hide in any open cupboard or drawer
and throw up in the kitchen sink
or so she’d tell me in exasperation.
I wasn’t sure how genuine
her weepy voice was when
she called with the news
of his demise. Still, I needed
to be sympathetic if I was to have
half a chance with her. Maybe
after the cremation, she would
take comfort in my arms.
Flowers were an easy token.
In a week I called to see
how she was. She thanked me
for my consideration,
and we arranged to have dinner
at Bistro Milano, our usual haunt.
We met inside the entrance.
She was wearing one of her many
silk scarves patterned with cats.
Bubbly and aloof as ever,
a combination she excelled at,
she seemed not to need cheering up.
She let me plant the obligatory
millisecond kiss on her lips.