Dog Walk

Quiet and clear and hush-hush
I pad along the sidewalk
Trying not to break the spell
of peace and solitude
But not loneliness

For the wide porches smile
with their painted rocking chairs
And the coffee brew wafts
out of an open kitchen window
Causing thoughts turn to grandma's percolator

Orange Cat sniffs his disdain
But my brain-light doggie
doesn't notice Kitty's pomp
in her quest for MORE SMELLS!

And I run through the day in my head
Finally un-interrupted (hoorah, hoorah!)
Content...full of thanks
for small town streets
for maples and oaks
who guard the sidewalks at night

It seems something lingers
of the grace and friendship
rumored to be prominent
in those decades past

I want to cling to that sense
Community, familiarity, safety
So absent in a day
of Manufactured this
and cookie-cutter that
Where I can't for the life of me
remember the next door neighbor's last name!

And sure, it's a fantasy
Every generation faces giants
Heaven alone is utopia found

But for now...
It's nice and right and a lovely evening
for walking a dog
in small town U.S.A.