S Stephanie
While waiting for the Italian Omelet Special
which comes with a side of “Phil’s Red Hash”, an elderly couple next to me eats in silence. I am struck at how peaceful they seem with no need for conversation. No need for eye contact or cues. She finishes her coffee while he finishes reading the news. When it comes time to pay the check, he reaches smoothly into his worn back pocket. She doesn’t watch him, instead I do. And I remember my friend’s grandmother, how when her husband died, we discovered she did not know how to pay the bills or drive the car. At first it seemed as though we were forever helping her. But then we realized how short a time it was, just three months between his death and hers.
S Stephanie’s poetry, fiction, and book reviews have appeared in many literary magazines including Birmingham Poetry Review, Café Review, Cease, Cows, Literary Laundry, One, Rattle, St. Petersburg Review, Southern Indiana Review, The Southern Review, The Sun and Third Coast. She holds an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts and teaches at the Institute of Art and Design/ NEC in Manchester, NH. She lives in Rollinsford, NH. You can visit her website at http://sstephanie.com/.