Young Woman Reading Newspaper

A young woman sits in a cafe reading a newspaper.
The shawl wrapped around her head suggests cancer,
chemotherapy, baldness.
The sounds of the city can be heard
but she’s not listening.
The words of the newspaper reach her eyes,
but she’s not reading.
She holds herself just above the sick area.
The dangerous place.
The place where her womanhood betrays her.
A reflection from a figure in black seems to watch her.
He’s not. No one is.
She’s just another little candle
waiting for the night.

“Hope can be the coward’s whore.”
Dartwill Aquila

*

*