she was shaking and talking   louder and louder   each sentence was sifted   to a very fine powder   her face was wet and tight   her grip was cold and light   a strong wind could blow you down   i heard myself say   word up sister   a strong wind   could take me away      i said how long have   you been at large   they told me you were stashed   last time i asked   she said i've been out now   for all of three hours   i just resurfaced   and here you are   i must admit   that it has been hard   so far      i said skeletons are fine   your closet or mine   and we took turns recounting   the details of lost time   and when we had both   admitted it all   we threw our heads back   and laughed until we cried   we laughed because the world   is absurd and beautiful and small      there we were   washed up on the curb   as the rush hour traffic   went out with the tide   and i was aware that   with every word spoken and shared   i could see her shaking subside   i said sister looks to me   like you're going to be fine