Two

Two bowls on the table.

One is ivory with two blue stripes.

It’s ceramic and it looked like France to her and so

she agreed to take it from the neighbor who was moving away.

This bowl is full of ripe apples

the ones he likes because they aren’t

too sweet nor too sour.

The other one is very old. It’s jade-green glass and had belonged to his grandmother

when he was little.

This one is full of ripe and nearly ripe plums

she has pulled in from the tree out back.

One small dahlia is hanging on in a small vase between them like

a flag of truce.

Two chairs at the table – his and hers.

Two births so long ago now and so far apart.

Two sets of limitations and possibilities.

Two lists of accomplishments, of dreams, of disappointments –

his and hers.

(From a prompt – pick a number and use it at least three times.)