sitting in shadows
(protected)
by the rising veil of the purple moon
i
remembered
what you'd said
intent
on self-preservation
i remembered
what
you
said
(safe)
from the gaze of the unwashed
i
touched
grey
(scraps of vicarious wisdom) experience
we
questioned
the easy loyalty of youth
clinging
(as they do)
to the soft edges of warmed earth
claiming
(provoking)
conversations of substance
cloistered
together
we settled (conceded)
negotiated
the shared destruction
of
naiveté
(expectantly) silently
we
drank
tea
(from glass-bottomed thermoses)
waiting
for the rising waters
nervous
with new hope