Gabby

I arrived to the party and looked around the at the faces in this basement

A sofa next to a keg and filled with some snoody beer

I have grown to like

Working around others who like micro-brews

I sat down and time after time someone would sit next to me and I would get to know them

Time after time

I was present in each conversation

Present amongst my inebriation from beer and other things

I looked into their eyes and saw the torrential horrors that devastated their youth

The abuses

The mistreatments

The heartache

The pain and their suffering

I could see it all as their heart pounding against the walls of their chest

The echo pierced my ears

As I could hear their hearts beating

Everyone’s heart beat

As we sat their making human noise and indulging in the human experience

I could hear everything they had to say

I could see everything they were and would be

The greatness in their hearts and the flaws that marked them

Each scar and scab

Told me of their wounds in life

I could feel their voices with mine and I was lost in time

I would come to

After they had gotten up and walked away

Another would approach and sit

Except this one was different

Her name was gabby and we talked and talked all night

When the morning came she was sleeping quietly on my chest

I

Had a smile on my face so wide

For the human noise we made all night and the human experience we shared

I could hear her heart beating

Even as the room went dark

I could hear her heart beating