Another covid Saturday
It is cold and occasionally windy.
I am rugged up.
I have a cafe in mind, near a lake.
The path I take bends and curves,
Rises and falls in small, still waves.
Lines in concrete.
Cracks!
Jutting edges.
The first wattle blossoms.
Two ducks beside a rain-filled depression near the path.
An old man talking to himself about his mortgage
And smiling as I pass.
I turn, walk backwards and see his grin (as if to himself).
Grass mown.
Edges trimmed
Green clippings spew across the path.
I zip up my Wild Kiwi jacket - more protection somehow
Clouds, grey, black, hanging
A lanky boy, black, ambles
a coke bottle hanging by the thread of his long fingers...
I push my measured step onwards
towards cafe-warmth and strong coffee.
I suck it down and listen to jazz -
Keyboard, rhythm, saxes and troms
The speaker hums with it. I can't help tapping my toes and heels with it.
"I come here for this," I tell her.
She grinds new coffee: a sweet earth curls through my nostrils.
"Oh, and the coffee."
We both laugh.
"Thanks," she says. "Have a good one."
Three steps down to a deserted al fresco square
People walking dogs (but not cats)
Small children run bikes, parents watching
Chatter faded by bursts of windy air
The straight fountains in the lake fan with spray, hissing.
Time to move; I feel it in my gut.
Rows of townhouses overlook the lake
and the church
and the school
Face the brunt of the westerlies and south-westerlies
cold balconies with lonely chairs and plants.
Strident flowers cannot help but speak, silent, awesome.
Two friends hold each other as they walk
stepping ahead of me
nodding heads with stretched smiles.
The ubiquitous traffic, now sparse
Seems to hesitate at the lights
I cross nevertheless, against the red man
My stride doesn't break and I'm not struck down by that bolt from heaven
The rolling curving path under my feet again
Staying left
Just in case
I hear that bell
Or feel that rider behind.
I know about that rider,
Am one myself.
Unexpected opportunity created by adversity ...
the virus is not to blame -
it is not the enemy -
it is not a game -
though many think it so -
Wilfulness, blindness, self-importance, disrespect.
or -
Willingness, awareness, generosity, harmony.
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