\n<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The empty bench invites a second shadow,
\nyet hands stay burrowed in wool.
\nTo ask is to confess the hollow place,
\nto cry \u201cI thirst\u201d before the well is offered,
\nand risk the sudden pity of an obligated smile.<\/p>\n
It is a small, exposed, and trembling thing
\nto knock upon a heart and beg for room.
\nBut to wait is to let dust settle on the second chair,
\nto watch lanterns flicker out in distant windows
\nand pretend solitude is some high, monastic virtue.<\/p>\n
It is to stay a stranger to the feast,
\nstarving politely on the porch of human grace.
\nnow breath hangs visible in cloying air,
\na wordless petition looking for an ear.
\nMust the beggar always name his hunger,
\nor does the keeper of bread already see the need?<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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