13/30: the tension

They're walking into the night
together
holding hands.

Are they holding on casually, fingers just entwined enough
to maintain contact, or is it

holding on as if one of them might, bird-like, slip away?

You can see their hips have widened -
his and hers both,
and their gait is crimped
by a knowledge of the cost of falling.

Is this an evening walk
like any other summer night

or is this the last walk?

It's hard to say without measuring the tension
in their grip.