Piano abandoned
It started on the sidewalk
then began a long
slow stop-motion
animated walk
through the park
Play me the
Oakland Blues
on it
So blue
it has a patina
So blue
the sky could fall
The birds and I
wouldn't mind
We've been expecting it
all along
Life goes on
exuberantly
until it does
There was a city-wide strike
going on that day
We were barred
from the inner sanctum
garden plot
(photo shot through fence)
A lone gardener
watering what
cannot do without
A broad leaf
against the fence
turned the silent red
of embarrassment
Locked out
and in need of a rest
I sat in the grass
At this point
a gardener appeared
an insider
we exchanged salutations
A girl pulled up
on a bicycle
who had unattended plants
she worried over
She was restricted
to outside the fence
just as I was
The garden lady
gave her scant attention
You won't see
the serious gardener
in jiggle-bottom drawers
The entire park
is of course
as once was
the entire world
Outside the park
I await transport
home
The strike didn't last long
and eventually
we'll have new level
easy-walking walkways,
And so one withdraws
having had an adventure
nevertheless
December 2018
