We meant to feed the birds in the park
–but I took a wrong turn
down a flight of steps
where nuns were scolding
a kid who looked like he didn’t know
what he’d done.
I’d seen too many scenes like
this in school and it made me want to
run up the mountain trail
with the lookout
we could never seem to find.
I didn’t even think of
intervening on
behalf of the kid who might’ve been
getting what he deserved.
Maybe because
the highway blocked my view
–there was a culvert
I could crawl through but it didn’t
lead to the park.
And when I saw you
with your eyes all red like you’d
been in an accident
I called your
name and you turned
and blended into the crowd
at the gate where the park used to be.

Gerald Yelle has worked in restaurants, factories, schools and offices. His books include the bored, The Holyoke Diaries and Dreaming Alone and with Others. His chapbooks include No Place I Would Rather Be and A Box of Rooms. He lives in Amherst, Massachusetts.