They smile although they are
the broken people, the ones to whom
fate, luck or mistakes have dealt
a lousy hand with no way to leave
the table save with the final
all in, no winner here, bet.
But they think that unimaginable
and struggle on just happy
to have gotten this far, this long.
Many laugh freely, the broken
or missing pieces conversation starters,
and those who cannot speak find
other ways to communicate.
We cannot imagine ourselves
in their places, but we know that
at some earlier point in their lives
this new them was unimaginable.