DD Poem - A Divorced Dad Asks Out a Woman

Hey.

Here's this week's Divorced Dad poem.  I pull for him sometimes.  I want him to win. At something.
Maybe I will too, one day.

A Divorced Dad Asks Out a Woman

There’s a faint ring of toothpaste

On his tie.

Enough to have him pace an extra block

Around the parking lot.

Shaking off the frantic urge to

Quit, go home, change into some sweatpants.

Jump under the covers.  Sigh balefully into the pillowcase,

As if the compound interest of regret

Could be some well-wished inheritance.

He points at the coffee shop. Strides towards the entrance.

Door open.  A light bell jangles to announce him.

There’s no line. No time to collect his thoughts.

She’s at the counter.  Name tag, weathered. “Miriam”,

Flick of white hair striped along a cusp of auburn tresses.

Resting face stoic, something you’d see

On Roman currency.   He shuffles towards her,

And recognition sparkles upon her cheeks.

A wide smile, the thief of decorum,

Marks his face, but he turns away

And resets his visage.

Glances at the soiled tie, sucks in his breath,

And asks her:

Why don’t we get dinner sometime?

The words, as they become corporeal,

After weeks and so much sleepless tension,

Now feel so simple. A reflex of living.  Children and fools say them.

Why has it been so hard?

Why has it always been so daggered with difficulty?

And sure,

Once spoken,

It’s only fair that someone has the right

To size up your form, your state of mind,

And know if that’s time well savored.

But there’s no control for that.

None at all –

And through this daydream,

He’s failed to notice

That she’s hastily scribbled something onto a napkin.

She softly strokes the back of his hand,

And he returns. She’s beaming. He sees the number,

Looks up, cups her hand with the warm fingertips of his second

Outstretched palm.  It is a glorious human moment

To be offered a chance, a precious chance,

This tender experiment.