DC: Connecticut & R St.

Odd how these old cozy streets
are full of communication:
One redlight chats with another
about the weather (one pointing
to obvious signs, the other
disagreeing), trees exchange
breezy wisecracks, digging each other
in the ribs, newspaper vending machines
squat at the corner, fat, shabby
good old boys, eyeing each passerby,
buildings are as solid, ornate
and familiar as old uncles
to a child (smell their cigar smoke?).

A tourist feels that all the isolated people
who pass each other unseeing
must know and enjoy each other
simply because they share this street,

like the illusion of a close family
created by a warm, bustling Mama--
when she dies, the children go
their separate ways and don't even write.

Dean Blehert

Last Updated: October 6, 2002