Hitching posts line
cobblestone streets,
awnings open to shade
a window of glass; a
windstorm, iron floats in air.
At the entrance to a store,
leans the proprietor against
a wall of brick; his focus the
city street – branches twisting,
turning between blooms
of a dogwood tree.
At Center Street a
wooden box reads,
“Deposit trash.”
A horse, upset, swings
a wooden wagon as he leaps
to free himself; tied to a
hitching post. Youths wearing
knickers – dash to fetch fruit
bouncing off the wagon onto
cobblestone.
A proprietor stares as a horse
defecates in front of his property;
summer heat will keep his door
closed – air will be stale until men
who clean city streets, who
carry shovels; clean the air.
Until then, it will be a quiet day.
Nancy Duci Denofio (c) revised 2013 all rights reserved