14th and 4th/

©2022 Michael Raven

i thought i saw you over there
under candy-stripe canopy
sipping frosted drinks in summer heat
and with a wink it fades to grey

maybe you were unsuspecting
or maybe not and needed to slip
through the etherstream skipping
time after time and through time again

i was watching for you in the reflection
of a hubcap cadillac mirrored shining
pepto-bismol painted pink as i sat
two feet in the gutter watching watching

cobblestone stumble broken years
with cutout paper people walking
cool and long you sipped the drink
and i was the voyeur all along

pictures perfect krayon melting
into the eclipse we fall fall fall
i smoked until i saw your face
and, smiling, you ignored it all