2000/stick

STICK PEOPLE

They call us
the stick people
because we always
walk with sticks.
I reserve this
term for Al Gore.
And my daughter’s
old boyfriend,
and my husband
when he is
especially unalive.
It is almost hard
for me now
to walk without
a stick.
I think of mine
as a friend,
a companion
who always goes
out with me
and measures
his cadence to
mine.

1/28/00