Tenderness [poem]Tenderness
=======================
Erica Funkhouser





Last night the animals

beneath her window

crept out of hiding

to comb the dirt

from each other's fur.



Rising to watch,

she discovered the lilacs

lit from below by ivory vinca.


The street on the other side

of the trees continued

to contain its passing cars;

tenderly her teeth

let her tongue rest

against their curving backs.



Tonight when she lies

in bed again,

she will remember

the one kind thing

her grown daughter said today

after weeks of scrutiny,


and the moment at work

just now, when a stack

of Day-Glo folders

cascaded over her desk,

thrilling the white cubicle

with their descent.