Stooped

The old woman,
Threadbare cardigan
Stretched across her
Humped back,

Sees me
Staring from
My open car window.

Self-conscious
She looks away,

Shuffles a few
Steps - her reused
Plastic grocery bag 
Swings and
Drags faded
Pleats of her 
Skirt open and
Closed like a
Silent accordion.

When she, still
Cautious stepping,
Looks up to grasp
My stare,

I look away
Ashamed to have
Intruded on her

Lovely, lonely life.