There’s usually Will and me, just two but

              when the Muse shows up,

We are three.

This last morning, the Trump election victory jumped

        in

            and began

                             to ruin our writers’ workshop.

Maybe it was because there were now four, and that was

             too many

Or maybe because of the anxiety, grief, and worry

                     so reminiscent of those 9-11 feelings

Remembering YogaMindy’s mantra to “keep breathing”

               we translated that into

“keep writing”

And so the three of us did.

       "Are you taking her side against me?" 

         Dave and I stood near each other on the fishing pier. He was casting out from the end of the pier and I was on the south-facing side. Neither of us had caught anything. We had been here two hours. 

         I wasn’t sure what to reply so I said nothing. I added a shrimp to my empty hook and cast the line out again. 

         His next comment, "Are you kidding me? We're not 'fine'!" was loud enough to attract the attention of the four others sharing the pier with us. 

         Before I could reply, Dave spit out, "Do you ever think we should just stop doing this?" 

         Again, I wasn’t sure what to reply. Was Dave asking about fishing or us or his relationship with Cheryl Ann? I reeled my line in and checked to see if the shrimp was still attached. It was. I cast the line out again. 

         "Are enjoying embarrassing yourself out here?"

          Was this about the fishing or the relationship between us? Or was this still about Cheryl Ann? 

          My line tightened, relaxed, and tightened again. Line began peeling off a fast rate. I let it run since the fish was heading away from any interference.