How Women Learn

 

She’ll turn a corner to the
small passages
that men miss
when she hears laughter,
barely whispered
and nearly breathless.

 

She’ll lift the edge of a
retreating heart
that men miss
when she hears crying,
nearly muffled
and finally tearless.

 

She’ll bend to the
outstretched hand
that men miss
when it begs kindness,
hardly knowing
where the hurt is.

 

She never runs from a storm.
She understands “home.”

 

She never mistakes
pain for bliss.