Afterhours

It was a long Monday
after a beautiful weekend
in Minneapolis
seeing friends
now scattered
across the nation and world
and after a late arrival
a friend's lost luggage
and a morning
without coffee
our day was prickly
my patience thin
my girls shifting
slowly
unwillingly
into the
stiff requirements
of a school day
and more than once
words slipped out
the cave of my mouth
that I should have
fastened behind the dam
of my tongue.

But at the end of the day
three little girls
asked to stay behind
to use the computers
so they could work ahead.

It is this hour
between five and six
when we sit together
in the grace
of a finished day
the agenda complete
the giggles welcome.

This is the time of
our second chances.