Climbing

I was holding the door for
a grey-haired matron
who glanced up at me
as she passed.

She did a double-take
and I saw the look
an ex-student gives:
the lights go on.

Now we were caught
teetering in the moment:
I don’t remember names;
nor did she I gather.

How are you?
Still teaching?

Still studying?
I should ask
—or not.

As I let go of the door and
engaged in the predictable
banter about life
in the intervening years

I read the subtext:
we are both climbing
the same ladder;
but once, I  gave her  a boost.

The voice of the poet

riverwriter reads:  

About riverwriter

Poet, playwright, duplicate bridge player, website designer, cottager, husband, father, grandfather, former athlete, carpenter, computer helper for my friends, theatre designer, backstage polymath, retired teacher of highschool English, drama, art, a baritone singer in a barbershop quartet, who knows what else? wordcurrents is on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wordcurrents/ Doug also has a Facebook page, "Incognitio", related to his novels.
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