Itwasjus-itwasjus--
It was just me and the hall.

I've not seen This Woman for  some time
And I wonder how she is today.
I'd recognize her if I saw her
Even if I'd forgotten her name.
I'd recognize the way she stood.
I'd recognize her hair.
This Woman has a name
And This Woman has a history

And This Woman has a face behind the mascara
And
I have looked in her eyes

Even if I have not known her history
Or much of it.
I used to janitor the church
And This Woman lived there,
Not welcome really
But
How could I be Christ-like
And say "Get outa'here!"?
Peggy said "It's hard
Butwehavetoprotect-wehavetoprotect
We have to protect our little old ladies too."

One Saturday afternoon
I heard music in the Fireside Room,

Piano music from the piano Tim brought
Because he did not have room for it at home.
This Woman was playing
One careful note
As lucid as her eyes--
Have I mentioned her eyes?
They are gray as
I don' know

They aren't granite or a stormy ocean
But more like the Ozarks
When the trees, bluffs and river
Are a long way away.
That's her eyes, a lucid distant gray.
Dan thinks she's intelligent.
He told me of her family and  history degree.
"She knows every note and word" he said,

And he named some piece and composer of theater.
Three o'clock one morning,
I looked up from mopping
And This Woman was there in the hall with me.
"Hi!" I said, "The building's closed y'know."
"Ok." she said.
I concentrated on the floor
When I looked up
Itwasjus-itwasjus--
It was just me and the hall.