Scaffold against the spire; spells
onto the nearly-cloudless breadth
a melody by the a-peeling bells;
curated lush-grass spreads
about its oval-pen within,
where column-lifted sundials shade;
kuhlakuhlatter of a skateboard; th’sin
of littering down-played;
Dean-Gahtuh Cross Keys, zebra-striped
amidst its gorgeous northern-brick;
desp’rately for crisps a young kid callcries;
[I interrupt this verse for a haiku on the bird I see above me.]
From blossom-branch
to branch blossomed-o’er,
the palm-sized nest-smith wanders.
[And now back to the crispless child of great pain suff’ring.]
upon the pave-slabs click
a canine’s unretracted claws;
two people ride away on bikes;
siblings at play put the whole world on pause;
onward the sun-disk hikes…
william altoft 