The improbably tall and willowy daughter
Of the owner, who has always been kind
And generous to body’s own daughter,
Comes through again with a chocolate
Discreetly placed alongside the cup
Of cauliflower soup. Grace notes, grace
Notes are the most eloquent spandrels
Of human collaborativity. We have a way
Of knowing how to say what we alone can
Say: hello, I take kindly to you, I’m open
To being and/or accepting you as a member
Of the same team. I like you. Like me.
Body is bemused by this, as always, noting
On a napkin to be pocketed and hoarded
For later compositions that, “despite how oft
I have thought of, but never well expressed,
The beauty in the cruelty that emerges
From forming fictive kinships, figurative
Blood loyalties, even simple friendships,
The bonding necessarily derived
From exclusion of those beyond the bond,
It remains a kind of merciful dream to see
The sly hand of fellowship extended under
The cover of simple kindnesses to someone
I already consider a kind of kindred of mine.”
Daughters wave to each other and smile.
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