debt

my mothers old friend
talked about the

Jubilee

year in the bible
when someone  turned
50.  They were welcomed

celebrated, debts erased.
They would feast.
given empty slates after years
of being too awake.

she raised her arms out
in between the checking aisles.
ready for that to begin,
    her husband might dig himself up,
and for her sake,
maybe they could forget.

She
kind of smiled in spite of herself
and grabbed the leather handles
of her old purse.