Living in Hexandria

As we walked
toward the beach
I heard him speak
of her

as
“One of the most
caustic women”
he’d ever met

Knowing him
and his chauvinism
I looked forward
to meeting her

There was an edge
to her humor
no insinuation
passed without comment

If she was angry
she had reason
living
on this masculine frontier

I wasn’t prone much
to bitterness then
but felt respect
for someone who fell into it
without reservation
and I had to wonder
at our being here
in such company

comfortable
at the wilderness edge

wary
of its inhabitants




--Aura, 2001