Shy Women

Shy women, you and I
Shy from knowing too well
Every time, as though it were mine
The bitterness that you hide so well
I say nothing at all, thinking of your pride
And I tell you that you look well and you roll your eyes
And laugh and we sit down together
By the window, talking about the weather

I should have told you you looked so alive
Elegant in the low sunlight
Shoulders wide as though in readiness to fight
Something you never even touch
Never ask for too much
No, you can get by on almost nothing
You and I forever bluffing
And ever so kind, shy women, shy

Ice on the trees since New Year's Eve
Coming down in white sheets
All white power lines swaying high and heavy
You were staring out, your eyes real straight
Like nothing touches you these days

It seemed to me luxury would be to be not so ashamed
Not to look away, even this heaviness
Deserved no less than to always confess every false smile
To every loneliness, there’s a design
That we witness, you and I, shy women, shy