a woman in a hurry
to get more steps in
or get to the right place

           she scurries by
saturday morning pedestrians
sharing the sidewalk
with panhandlers
wasting their breath
                on anybody
who will listen

we all need something today

this woman stepping briskly
         THE END IS NIGH
scrawled across the back
of her sweater
         does she know
             something I don’t

in this pandemic
nuclear threat, call to war
nothing seems horrific
anymore
and she is in a hurry
               to get there

08/27/2020                                  j.g.l.