In a restaurant
I hear a mother going over grades
With her daughter
A high schooler
wearing a black fedora
trimmed with a multi-colored band above the rim,
Wire rimmed glasses perched on her nose
And a stuffed animal necklace around her neck.
One ear bud in her ear.
Questions about points and averages
She needs to get that A
She nods and only begins to speak
But the conversation is so fast
No one is listening
It changes
She turns and gets lost in her phone
Moving away from a conversation
She was never having.
At another table
A man tells his eight year old daughter
That she has to set up at the table
He is lost in his paper and
She is laying on the bench
Did he notice her because
She has kicked him
With her foot
She gets up and walks away
Then returns to grab his phone
Trying so hard to engage
A father who is so far away from her
But right next to her.
Not together
But at a distance
Far apart
What a wonderful day
It would be
If they could laugh together.
