Birthday Girl

A woman, mid-twenties or perhaps thirty, sits at a table with her group
In the middle of Carl's Jr.
She wears a red and black Jeff Gordon NASCAR baseball cap, a purple coat,
And a ribbon around her neck.
When newcomers join her party, the woman shows them the medal attached
To the end of the ribbon.

In a young child's voice, she exclaims, "Look, look, it's my birthday today!"

What a strange gift always to be a birthday girl.

Faces

At the risk of sounding cheesy,
I am going to say,

Faces, happy and solemn,
Lift my spirits.