A bag of pennies

by DS Maolalai

 

I got on the streetcar
at dundas
and just went - I was
new, didn't know
where I was going
or why
but it turned out to be
the junction - that is, the neighbourhood in toronto,
not the thing
which streetcars do. and it was
so perfectly hot
and so wonderfully - I mean
you could drop a bag of pennies
and they wouldn't roll away. people
were all out
and dogs and birds and the whole town
a riot of black squirrels
like some artist
needed a detail for the corners
but couldn't think of anything
to draw. perfect. I browsed
a bookshop, picked up something,
then left
and got myself a beer
and the day
broke suddenly
from aimlessness. that happens -
a beer in the afternoon
on a hot day
is amazing. I stayed there hours on the patio,
drinking the beer
and reading the city. like a hawk
floating over concrete
and the ground
all swarming with squirrels.