Social Graces
Sometimes grace is good. It may be old-fashioned,
it may be too traditional for today’s stark standards;
In a time when we’re not allowed to blink an eye
or cast a sidelong glance, lest we be labeled “too conventional,”
grace is a blessed relief.
Ladies dressed for cocktails, men freshly-shaven
smelling of the serenity they found on the golf course that day.
Clean-faced children running across the lawn
in striped pants and white shirts.
If you’ve never spent time in a place of grace,
of etiquette, of quiet reserve ...
you wouldn’t understand how it can keep the ringing
of a blatting society in your ears at bay.
Just reserved conversation, solitude under the palms
and the stars walking back from dinner
Smiles and gentle nods, not fist bumps and eye rolls.
Sometimes society is still social.
Marcy Shortuse