Approaching Dusk...

See the squirrel eating a crust of bread
from the trash can
and a homeless couple holding hands
as they walk with their shopping cart
loaded with their worldy possessions
A confession, as the shadows lengthen on the lawn;
I envied them for a moment
but the moment is gone...
Light that lingers spreads its fingers,
gently touching the leaves on the trees
as the breeze flutters them
and the tree utters a sigh,
for as the days go by
she will lose her many children
to the waning light of fall
Shops begin to close,
smells from restaurants assail your nose
as beneath your toes the concrete begins to cool
The last of the buses, leaving from school
carrying the children who have been learning the rules
that will carry them through their lives,
may the light of learning never leave their eyes
All this and more in a few short blocks,
a world in microcosm,
a lifetime in a few moments
as the dying light still shines bright
illuminating yet another day's end...
                03-03-10