At the Baggage Carousel
we sat next to her
on the airplane,
my wife and I.
she was a lonely girl;
in her twenties we guessed;
going to visit her father.
we learned that
she had a step-brother
much younger but
she said his dad was supposed
to be in town also and
maybe, for the few days of her trip,
he would pick the kid up and
then it would be just she and her dad…
hopefully.
after a while
the plane landed
right on schedule,
and as we disembarked,
we watched as she
searched for her father but…
he was not there.
long minutes later
with only a little luggage left
on the baggage carousel,
we finally saw her with an older man
and a young boy.
she was smiling then…
outwardly.
– Jerry Dan Deutschendorf