two earnest
young women sit
at a table across
from each other, drinking coffee,
gazing—dreamy, happy-eyed—
into one another’s faces.
with goon smiles, they
talk of men
and dating and god’s
unconditional love,
how, in the midst
of all the confusions,
despite all the wrong choices,
god still loves us. their
earnest desire to please
god, to check on each
other through probing
questions — “how are you,
really?” — to pray
through their young-woman
hardships fills the coffee shop
like coffee beans
spilling on
a hard floor.
—Stacey Warde
