coffee in a blue cup

in grey sweats, morning legs lounge

out from a park bench

rough and worn from the sun

coffee in a blue cup

aroma of foreign mountains

ambrosia brewed strong

in the distance a young woman

keeps cadence with a basketball

dribble shoot, dribble shoot, dribble, dribble, dribble

repeats over and over and over

before men come and

hold court for the day

squirrel dances unafraid at base of tree

man with a wiener dog the color of mustard

says she can still give chase when she wants

in dappled shade of last year’s debris

red ant pulls white worm

up and over brown leaves

unconcerned of what rests in its path

on and on it comes

undeterred and unaware

I move loafered feet, admire its resolve

as it moves forward under the bench

following an invisible chemical trail

5-16-21