I’ve been pedestrian all my life
A grey soul in white heat
Crossing blocks of heaving black asphalt
Can’t let it stick or I’ll get hit
This traffic’s unpremeditated murder
Trucks calling themselves cars
Rushing to late appointments with
Dentists, hair dryers, lost friends
They’ll soon conclude cannot be found
I observe but I’m not seen
Drivers singing and drinking
Cursing and throwing their phones
Scratching beards and plucking eyebrows
No pedestrian is worthy of notice
But I can talk to trees
Yellow and dusty as they drink the sky
Some hounds stop sniffing, see me and bark
I wave to the many cameras
Rising flocks of seabirds
Pass above one slow and earthbound
Yet I feel the earth through my feet
Solar warmth tugs my cheek
Sparse hairs sense a breeze
And I know the stars are looking down
Wondering why some drive, some walk
I’ll still be pedestrian piloting that rocket
Riding straight into their souls