Friday, February 15, 2008

Eliminate the Silver

for Roberto Novo

I choose the single process
treatment to save time and money.
My schedule is so busy these days.

Crisply, I ask Roberto to "Eliminate
the silver." And we both laugh, knowing
that "silver" is the nice way to say "gray."

And we both laugh, knowing that "We're
not getting any younger," which is the nice
way to say we are getting older. Old.

And we both laugh, knowing that laughter is
the nice way to divert our attention from our
presence here, how little time we have left to

make it matter.

He applies color with the brush strokes
of an artist. Sets a timer for 10 minutes.
Scurries off to help another client.

Over a slow, quiet ticking, she tells him
what she needs. And they both laugh,
even as Roberto hands me the bill.

Which is a nice way to say,
the silver is being eliminated
in more ways than one.

by Kathi Georges
02/15/08

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Hi K,

I haven't been here for a very long time. Thank you for that poem! Talk to you soon. -W