You Alright? She Asked

Leaving a baseball game, seventh inning,

to avoid toes of people in my row

I go to hurdle my stadium seat.

My shoe gets caught in the slats of seat's back

and I take a tumble.  On the way down 

I see a woman’s face, sheer agony

from fear I might be undone by the fall.

The woman shows empathy for a true

stranger, without knowing that in falling
his mind is calm, nonresistant, grateful

for her caring concern and compassion.

In flight he loses his purchase, all sight

of self, as though he were but a witness

to the event without an interest 

in the outcome . . . oh, only the slightest.