when you sit on a garden bench
with the Friend
hands intertwined in the evening light
no words are necessary

being human

so we don’t talk
and then we think
that not talking
just means we’re
comfortable

so we say
“but, I’ll be fine”
and try to ignore
that it won’t be fine
at least, not for a long
time

so we close our eyes
pretend that being human
isn’t as hard
as we know
it really is