by Edna Wallace, LMFT

Two men meeting
for breakfast
at the cafe—
friends, I imagine.  
They’re meeting
to catch up,
to connect,
to “hang out”.
They’re smiling,
nodding.
I see the one
with a rugged face
is talking—
telling a story,
I imagine.

I order my coffee;
I notice the one
with the rugged face
is still talking.

I consider the space.
There are three
at the table—
the friends
and the space
between them.

Only one person
is talking.

For some,
the space between
is theirs to grab—
like a greedy cat
finishing his bowl
of kibbles
and making a move
on his brothers.

I look over
three tables
from mine.

Four men are having
breakfast.
One man talks,
the others laugh.
Another man chimes in.
Then the third.
The men turn to the fourth.
He talks a while.

A man on a bike
passes by the window;
the four men wave.
The man comes in
and joins the others.

I notice the twinkle in
these men’s eyes,
their laughter,
their flow.

I get my coffee,
a hot steaming mocha.

I notice the man
with the rugged face
at the table next to mine
is talking still;
the other man
nodding still.

What gets one person
not noticing
he’s the only one
talking and the other
person being okay with it?
What gets
four friends
sharing the space?

Maybe it’s kindergarten.
Or maybe it’s
noticing
and respecting
the space between.

Edna Wallace, LMFT, is a long-time therapist at El Camino Hospital working in the Adult Mood Program for Depression and Anxiety and the OATS program for older adults. She has a private practice in Los Altos. She worked for a decade on the Luncheon Committee for SCV-CAMFT and has been a luncheon presenter as well. Edna is an avid writer in her spare time.