Ah, Carlos

I will always remember you and
The quality of your listening
I spent most of my life wanting to be heard
being told to shut up, to hush, to be quiet  

You not only listened
but when I talked
asked questions about what I’d said

I remember you were gentle
and it was enough to just lie there

It seemed everyone in my life I’d ever known
needed something from me -
my kids, my husbands, my friends -

Nobody had ever just listened
What a gift that was 
Makes me cry, yet