Words I Heard Today

These are the words I heard today at lunch in Washington as I sat alone in a corner with tofu, soba, mango juice and the new New Yorker. These are the words I heard between slurping and sipping and skimming; this is what I savored at lunch in a corner, snippets of individuals' stories - the poetics of diversity - as steam danced above tea cups and cable knit sweaters were paired next to yoga pants and dangling earrings.

marketing
attorney
New York Times
reporter
Romania
relationship
urban
panel
conference
scared
life
paperback
rhythm
family
leadershp
collected
first
work
Philadelphia
Chelsea
nervous
PhD
ABC
drafting
literary
friends
know yourself
I had to grow up first.