No riots today in my small town
No protestors or police around
Everywhere I look, peace and quiet
On Main Street, three dogs lie down
Town’s not for sale ~ you cityfolk can’t buy it
Red barn in the country
sunny parcel of farmland
ploughed field and heavy machinery at rest
Chickens free ranging
jersey cows grazing the pasture
and the dog runs as it pleases
Soaking in the sun
horses within white fences overseeing
soft hills with haystacks neatly bundled
Two rocking chairs on the veranda
swing hung under the porch
on cool nights smoke billows from house
Vestige of years gone by
the ranch outliving its use
a lifestyle foreign to cityfolk
Grandkids out exploring a field
and soon-to-be abandoned barn
in plain view: Sold over the For Sale sign
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Traffic and pedestrians
Perform a do-si-do.
Cityfolk, experienced,
Know just which way to go.
Every last participant,
Of flesh or chrome and steel,
Bows or curtsies to his partner
In this urban reel.
In and out they weave and turn,
Like threads upon a loom.
Out-of-towners watch in awe,
Anticipating doom.
At some point in this promenade
The music stops and then,
The dancers separate until
They’ll do-si-do again.
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