june the fourteenth, two-thousand and ten

i saw the most beautiful woman today. i shared the table she was already seated at. i read "the pearl" but secretly and deeply wondered, while i read, what she was reading. her short red hair caught the corner of my eye many times while i scanned through pages of steinbeck. her simple black dress made her seem calm and elegant, plain and breathtaking. the words we shared were only my asking for her permission to sit at her table, and then as she left, i looked up at her and said, "thank you for sharing your table with me." she responded, "no problem. any time." and then she smiled. i am pondering that statement now, minutes after she walked away. "any time". and i wasnt able to offer my name, or humbly ask for hers.