Years of observations
in men’s washrooms
led me to conclude:
the last thing you touch
before washing hands
is your belt.
The one item
you never put
in the laundry basket.
I see you in the meeting room,
hand resting on your belt.
There’s a smile,
a handshake.
(Editor’s note: poet Shai Ben-Shalom, an Israeli-born biologist, examines current events in the Blacklock’s tradition each and every Sunday)