morning a squabble of horns dragged through stoplights
lets cross to the cool side
lots of people under the horizons of dirt-cake cornices
true believers pouring out from the stones to ricochet off clock faces
as the hands advance we have to leave
the best evasions circulate like cigarettes
we are waiting for the bookmobile
or maybe we are waiting for the mayor to come tell us we received compensation
for 16 decades of siphoned labor
the smooth talk of city council meeting
(too late to be picked up by satellite dishes)
is nixed by sidewalk chalk refutations
finally
they banned sins of omission
should we feel guilty for the trash
needles are still where we left them
3 summers ago
looking for fresh adopters now the economys up
the sun just rose to its level of incompetence
now its about to take the trolley back
gathered dogs are calculating how to get through the night
Andy Oram
March 13, 2022