Mid-Day Routine

Long-legged strides they cover

slate colored pavement cracked & faded

over which, red-gold, green and yellow leaves hover.

The breeze tumbles detritus, twigs and long-bladed

yellow-green fingers of decorative vegetation

a no parking or standing fire sign lazily leans,

echoes of footfalls of reverberation

from rubber-soled shoes in an arcade

of delivery trucks, cars, and buildings

whose dwellers engage

in a rather chaotic dance, influenced

by routine and random decisions

navigating the gauntlet of capitalism’s moving

parts. His hood falls at his increase in

pace, rounding the corner, away, proving

endurance versus the wind tunnel

formed by haphazard juxtaposition

of constructs of brick, mortar, and plaster.

As spectators watch three Affenpinschers play

long-legged strides glide away

ever faster.