Everton
He knew Tom. He said Tom was skinny then.
End of the day, shop closed, he said that's all right.
I bade him enjoy the garden. "There's lots going on back here," I said, referring to the herbs growing.
We stood in the sun. I was trying to be polite but not just that. I wanted to get the three pounds of mullein the store needed and lock the barn and go home. I wanted to honor the meeting of souls and to listen, always listen more.
For lack of anything to say, I showed him the yellow orb spider who had just finished her web by the barn. He said he's used to them. The ones in Jamaica are even bigger. Maybe he didn't know I wasn't scared of her but was showing her off. Thought she was beautiful, and her expertise a miracle.
I asked when he came to the US, and he said 1967. I made a noise I meant to contain empathy, respect, admiration, and an acknowledgment that I don't know what he's been through in the least.
I said, "You go back and forth, though." He said, "Yes, no way I could stay here when it's there."
He said white sands. He said then I walk out into the ocean. He said then I swim. I nodded, and I said, "Paradise." And he said, "Paradise."
It's the first yellow orb spider I have seen in this garden. Waiting for sundown, and flying things to come.
"You're very kind," he said.