San Gabriel Valley Poetry Quarterly

Mina V. Kirby

When She Was Very Young

A knock at my door
an attractive middle-aged woman
Hi
I helped build this house
Please may I
sleep in the woods
at the rear of your yard
for about three days?

She stayed for two years
got old food
from local markets
brought me flowers
talked of childhood in Austria
adopted a crippled cat

But soon
cigarette butts
rotting fruit
half-empty containers of food
treasures scrounged from dumpsters
filled the yard

When she finally left
she took nothing with her
not even her clothes
or bedding

I wonder what her dreams were
when she was very young
I know that she had plans for life
She once was even someone’s wife
She didn’t plan for years of strife
when she was very young