Outside the children scream
while playing ball above
the highway. A dog barks.
The birds sing sweet songs
to welcome spring.
There are flowers in the park.
A young swan washes in the lake.
The city is no place for a man
like me. The great forest looms
across the river! The sun falls
in patterns through its tallest limbs.
It’s beauty has no comparison.
I have come looking for you.
No one can tell me where you are.
Saddened, I lean against a light pole.
This article appears in August 2009.
