October 24th 1999


Upon watching the visages in the room

I look towards a woman

she wears a simple dress

her hair is gray with age


she seems to be reading

some magazine about nothing

carefully pulling the pages

her hands look like prunes


an elderly woman, her skin is like leather

but a bit too loose for her frail skeleton

frail seemingly, but what wars has she seen

I could learn something from her


silently, I observe this woman

sitting across from me in this room

I want to ask her name

instead, I sit, silent


silence prevailed that day

when I had a chance to meet this woman

who might have had something to tell me

something to teach me


I sat, silent

RyanDavid Burningham