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Recorded Reading (3:22):

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/agecvv4des9q3qhxckhhb/Same-Sidewalk.mp3?rlkey=g2v70ahg7uxnrdl8s6k2jtkpb&st=tjp09n9i&dl=0

*****

Same Sidewalk

A sophisticate, a financier, a maintenance worker and a poet found themselves on the same sidewalk one afternoon.

The sophisticate thought, “The buildings on this side of the street are sleeker than those on that side, creating a better backdrop for my glamour. Viewers from across the street get a better glimpse of my Hermes scarf and bag, too!”

The financier thought, “Topiary this lush is really wasted on the masses. In this area, the square footage taken by that useless ornamentation could be bringing in a tidy sum.”

The maintenance woman thought, “They must bring in a pressure hose to keep the pavements this clean here.”

The poet exclaimed, “Oh!” and clasped her hands together smiling because she had just glimpsed the rainbow bursts coming from droplets left upon the useless ornamentation by its recent irrigation.

She thought about the man-made miracle of irrigation, of its history in so many experimental forms all over the planet at every stage in human history, from the Egyptian shaduf to the PVC pipe.

She breathed in the freshness of natural greenery.

The sophisticate thought, “How does that poet manage to look better in a dozen items of thrift store clothing and a utility knife than I’m looking right now with my ultra-tailored five thousand dollar outfit?

“… Do I have enough pull to get her eliminated from my backdrop?”

The financier thought, “Not a corporate affect at all. Bad for the consumer mindset. Isn’t she supposed to be hanging out in a not-so-nice place?”

The maintenance woman thought, “Silly, vain creature. If she didn’t exist my kids would eat more.”

The poet thought, “That sophisticate would be much more successful in projecting the aura in which she invested to the exclusion of every other instinct and perception if every line in her face didn’t scream disillusionment and bitterness.”

She thought, “Poor, poor, lonely, overburdened, harassed, depressed and jaded man. Everywhere he goes people will smile at him, and he will never know which smile can be believed.”

She thought, “Lady, I honor you. If I had my way everyone would do their own damn floors and toilets ~ and anyone willing to deal with someone else’s would get an award and a big bonus.”

The sophisticate thought: “Useless creature.”

The financier thought: “Useless creature.”

The maintenance woman thought: “Useless creature.”

*****

This poet/editor is physically disabled, and lives at a fraction of her nation’s poverty level.

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