An Old Woman By the Window

An Old Woman By the Window 

i see her everyday on my way to work 
she is there by the wide window of 
an old house near the road where i used 
to come and go 
silver hair in a neat bun 
tired wrinkled hands 
and chinky eyes that were always 
staring at a distance 
as if waiting for something 
or someone? 

and so it goes day by day 
she sits by her window with her lonely gaze 
i wonder what thoughts are in her tiny head 
was she happy in her younger years 
or did she loathe life's miseries 

were there dreams she still dream or 
was she resigned to her fate 
were there questions left that haunt her still 
is she waiting for the answers? 

i will never know 
the last time i looked 
the window was empty 
she sits there no more. 

Eloida Capuno