While Seated at A Curbside Table

An old man removed a wheel chair 

from his car, added a head rest

from the back seat and then 

putting his hands under his wife's

armpits carefully took her out of

the front seat and placed her in the chair 

The old man draped a flowered

cloth over her lap, buckled her into 

the seat, removed two foot rests

from the car and added them to the chair

His wife's arms were frozen in space,

awkward and disconnected

She stared at nothing, mute and locked 

in a world she never selected.

He looked down at her and gently 

stroked her hair before pushing the chair.