I Watch Two Girls, One Leaving

She grips the handle tighter
and I know how the touch of metal feels cold
in a space for two beneath an umbrella,
the rhythm of rain breaking against skin,
water seeping into her shoes,
and why only a promise binds them together
when the curve of her sky
shivers with the wind.s

Sharon Hashimoto teaches literature and writing at Highline Community College. Her chapbook, Reparations, was published by Brooding Heron Press. In 1989 she received a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.