Outside the garden store, where I had tried
to find a Christmas tree, a very old woman
sitting near the door, called out to me,
“It’s cold out here!”
“Are you waiting for a ride?”
“Yes, but they’re late…
Can you take me inside?”
I didn’t know how she got there, but knew
She couldn’t wait, and though a stranger
I asked, “Can you stand?”
Then leaning on a cane,
my mother took my hand.
