strong enough

she’s strong enough to admit

she cannot do it alone &

when she speaks, you listen,

when she sings, you listen,

when she stares off in silence, you listen

(for the next wise word to come about),

not because you expect anything but what

draws from times past that haven’t killed her yet

but which linger just below the surface &

emanate through her eyes

so f*****g beautiful that to stand in anything but

awe

would be the greatest lie to oneself---

what comes from the witness of such wisdom

is the possibility of not making the same mistakes &

what comes from the exchange

of lending your ear

is the possibility that she will stay one more day

to walk on, speaking, singing,

telling the tales that only she knows

like breaths being exhaled

in a long long run or

a hike up a mountain

which seems like it has no peak.