The Ladies

 The Ladies

By

Lisa A.Williams

They tell

of lifetimes spent

in small towns

when the world

was new to them

and grief and loss

were in their infancy,

as they raised families

still keeping their voices

in low whispers.

Time moved on,

some were separated

from parents while still

in desperate need

of their guidance.

 Husbands lost

to dying.

Their voices grew louder,

stories I was eager to hear,

in a small shop

where others “junk”

became someone elses“ treasure”.

In their company, me

at 50, still in their eyes,

a “young” woman,

listened-

to how cancer reared

its ugly head,

time and time again

sometimes beaten,

sometimes the victor.

How a man forgot

his wife’s name

and whether he was eating

cherries or grapes

as she wiped his mouth,

like he was her child.

Stories of loneliness,

 in an

empty house,

making winters

 colder than memory.

Most of all,

witnessing

the treasure of aging

with strength

and beauty

how nothing would

cause the laughter

to cease.

Joy was always

on the cusp,

 the ladies-

wise enough to swoop her up

at every chance.