CENTERVILLE CITY PARK

(On a Sunday)

 

  Unknown General's statue

  Grim with pigeon droppings,

  Stands in a circle of lawn

  Forever charging

  A band shell,

  Where untuned tubas once droned

  Late into summer nights.

  A child on a tricycle

  Watches with Buddha patience

  A red-haired girl of fourteen

  Tune an ancient acoustic guitar

  On that weathered stage.

 

  Doves coo.

  Pigeons strut.

  Children squeal.

  A kite dips and rises.

  Lovers on the lawn speak with soft caresses.

  Oldsters sit at benches.

  Crack of bat and ball, excited cheers.

  Flurry of feet about the muddy diamond.

  The kite dips again.

  A baby cries.

  Flowers bloom.

  Sprinklers run.

 

  Afternoon shadows creep

  Across the lawns,

  To a tabby cat's purring

  Add insect droning,

     A summer day is like

     A song.

 

                                26 Feb 77

                                26 Apr 96

                                24 Jul 97