we do the best we can

I saw a woman
steal a can of cat food once
in the grocery store.

she put her fingers to her lips
and shook her head when she
saw me watching her.

I said, ok.

they stopped her as she left
the store.
she began to cry.

but the cops came.
they took her coat off.
there were grapes, and packages
of crackers.

soup.
tuna fish in cans.

she must have been eighty at
least.

she didn't seem to mind
all the attention.

they sat her in back of
the police car.

she looked at me as I walked
by
and shrugged
through the window,
smiling, not unhappy, not
worried.

we do the best we can.