LISTENING

I noticed them from across the way…

her tears first catching my attention

and I wondered…was she sad or stressed or angry 

or filled with apprehension?

I saw her lips move but I could not hear her words 

as she laid her head upon his shoulder.

He said nothing, he let her cry…

all he did was hold her.

Again her lips moved as she turned her head 

and she looked into his eyes

He kissed her forehead, rubbed her arm…and listened to her cries…

I don’t know what she was telling him…

about her anger or her fears…

but he did not speak, he only listened…

then gently wiped her tears.

In a few minutes it was over…

she gave him an embrace.

She sat up a little taller 

and a smile crossed her face.

Again I saw her lips move, and again 

she laid her head upon his shoulder…

And again he said not one word…

all he did was hold her…

And I wondered as I watched them from afar…

As the few remaining tears on her cheeks seemed to glisten…

Perhaps sometimes people don’t need answers to their problems…

Perhaps they just want us to listen…