The Long Table

Here we are,

In the place we were a year ago,

The place we’ll be a year from now,

Empty chairs,

Silent silverware,

Hungry plates and thirsty glasses.

Thawing out the conversation,

Warming to each other’s company.

Salt and spice mingle,

Alert the senses,

Call appetites,

To the long table.

Here we are,

In the place we were a year ago,

The place we’ll be a year from now—

Full,

Chairs and plates and glasses,

Forks and spoons and knives,

Harmonize,

Accompany,

The side conversations, the laughter,

The shared memory that gathers,

To wrap each other in the familiar,

Protection,

From the storm, the cold

Endless gray and the spindly fingers,

Tapping at the glass.

The present past,

Inside us,

Beside us,

The empty chairs.

Here we are,

In the place we were a year ago,

In the place we hope to be a year from now,

Around the long table.