The Text

First a short text
Quickly followed by another
Then a text with an X
What does it mean?

Girlfriends say it’s just
“Bye” to a friend
We all do it
No need to get excited.

But the men say different
The X is significant
It means something else
It wants an X back.

So I send one.

The Opposite House

There’s been a death in the opposite house
Family members have taken time
To rip out all the furniture
And throw it in a skip.

Maud was the little old lady
We hardly knew her at all.
Now what represented her life on earth
Is piled outside her front door.

Anything valuable they decide to keep
Or maybe Oxfam can pick through it
I see the look of relief all around
As they make one final trip to the tip.

The Walkers

I just jumped up from my desk
As I heard a strange clacking sound
Seemed like heavy rain drops
But it was the walkers going past
Click, click, tap, tap, click
Their poles hit the street.

Every Wednesday we see them
As they stride out together
Five female friends
On a weekly adventure
They never miss
They think of it all the time.

The poles give them strength
Their walk unites them in rhythm
Their longed-for escape
From the noise and nonsense of their lives
I hear their faint chattering now
As they disappear from my view.