The Opposite of Road Rage
The traffic lights dangle from their wires
like children on the monkey bars. Two boys,
fourteen or fifteen, skateboard past me
furtively, pass a cigarette between them
like a joint. It is a joint. They don’t want
to be caught, but they do want to be noticed.
They misbehave conspicuously. I toy
with what I could say to them, whether
I would play parent or teacher or lunch lady
or babysitter or cool aunt, or woman smiling
and waving in her car as they yell and wave
from the window of their school bus. This world
is friendly when we program it to be. The ATM
thanks me. The gas pump shouts hello. Leaving
any store, I look down at the receipt I have
been handed, and so do you, just to check
that things happen the way we think they do.
That first line is a joy.
ReplyDeleteSo much truth in your line "This world / is friendly when we program it to be."
ReplyDeleteThere's a wonderful poem at On Being blog today that illustrates a real-life experience borne of violence.
I like the idea of having the opposite of road rage...most of our problems would disappear...In Holland I visited a park where trash cans thanked us for throwing our garbage in them...the kids kept searching for trash so they could hear the trash can talk! Happy Monday the 8th to you! xo
ReplyDeleteIt's so funny but I really do check receipts to make sure things happen the way I think they do.
ReplyDeleteSo true!!! If we would just all flip a switch in our hearts, and train ourselves to see the good, think of how different this world could be.
ReplyDelete