The Table

In the city park
The rhododendron blossoms
In the full moon light

The water from the fountain
Resembles a melody

At the intersection
With the windows wide open
The radio blast

Conversation disrupted
By the insistent cell phone

The savings are gone
Retirement reconsidered
There are doctor's bills

Will we ever be content?
Waiting for the cold to end

Restless bare branches
Swaying in the constant wind
The sign at the door

Tourists at the knick-knack store
Purchasing a memory

Statues of Kwan Yin
Come in various sizes
Just like compassion

A stranger helps an old man
At the new mall's parking lot

Starlings in the July heat
Pecking at scarps in the dust

The path from the road
Meanders to the river
Slowly flowing by

At the bottom of the cliff
A pile of broken boulders

Casting long shadows
Capturing the morning light
Capturing the time

Painting a watercolor
Of his lover's smiling face

As she sits at the table
They have shared for many years