Coming Home from Carmel
Try coming home from Carmel
in a sports utility van with four women.
Don't worry that you look rumpled and silly
filing into the ladies room at the Quick Stop.
Don't bicker about the accounting for dinner.
You split the check five ways. It all evens out.
I know.
It is hard traveling with people,
and it is hard to go it alone.
Don't expect so much.
These women are not your sisters.
They won't cry long at your funeral.
Pretend you understand their lives.
Let them seem familiar, familial.
Remember their penchant for abundance.
In the grand heap of luggage and shopping bags
behind the back seat
you will find tarot cards, rose cuttings,
warm socks, gorgeous globe artichokes
from a vegetable stand near Salinas,
photos taken by the waiter--all of you laughing--
beach glass, silences, unspoken dreams,
hidden grief, and vitamins.
Remember, the trip ends soon.
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