The Good Portion
by Susan Shea
I’ve run into her a few times while
she was moving at a dove-like pace.
I saw people pulled in to her calm eyes
even when she wasn’t speaking, as if
they believed she carried a validation
stamp with her, ready and able to see
beyond their shortcomings, ready to
inscribe reminders on them, invisible
holy ink to make everyone around them
want to join their club.
She let me pass her, in my hurry,
knowing I felt safest in my secrecy
content to type my words on my deaf page.
Susan Shea is a retired school psychologist, born in New York City, now living in a forest in Pennsylvania. Since she has returned to writing poetry this year, her poems have been accepted in a few dozen publications, including Avalon Literary Review, Ekstasis, Feminine Collective, and Across the Margin.
