Good Company I have a friend who is relearning her worth by making choices that don't require the signature of a man who could not love her for all of her yesterdays He was so weak he could not promise her tomorrow I have a friend who is entering the age of standing up straighter despite being leveled by a life lived in the shadow of doubt her hair grows longer and now her smile comes up to her eyes I have a friend who has stumbled upon some kind of grief (she does not know its name) and against her safer judgement, she's trying to learn the language of her pain Today, she bought herself new shoes and learned how to pray I have a friend who does not want to be like her mother--Her babies do not deserve this same fate She lifts the heavy like it's light and doesn't talk about the cramps in her muscles Or the way her legs shake Snap goes the branch of the burden and the curse is broken And I think Maybe This is what it means to know you are in good company.