Woman Eating Out Alone

Woman Eating Out Alone
By Larry Linville

She drove alone in her car
to eat alone at a salad bar.
Her pastel pant suit neatly pressed
had replaced her former fancy dress.

Had the waitress not smiled and spoke
and shared a funny little joke
she would have eaten quietly
sitting where everyone could see.

When she finished she got out a mirror
to see if her lipstick would smear.
She smiled at the waitress by the door
like she’d done many time before.

Alone she drove back to her house
thinking of her departed spouse
and how they ate out every week
and many times they didn’t speak
but communicated without using a word
and both understood just like they’d heard.

She recalled how hard he had worked
and never did his saving shirk.
He left her with ample funds
so she could make these weekly runs.
She paused when inside the door
to thank him as she’d done before.

© Copyright 2009 Larry Linville (UN: larrylinville at Writing.Com). All rights reserved.
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