by Cielo Jones
Choose a subject:
the geese at the curb,
the bucket beaters on the street islands,
the cart pushers, the corner sitters,
or the fancy car driver who just sped by.
Choose a predicate:
cross the streets in single file,
stop traffic with bodacious beats,
holding up placards, one-sentence life stories
break my heart,
honks horn at the car in front,
he stops for the geese, or taken by the drummers.
For more complicated sentences, add clauses:
people should be allowed to hunt the birds,
healthy choice since they’re in the wild,
What wild? This is the city, for crying out loud.
No hunting here!
round up the nuisance, the traffic hazards, find a meadow,
but this is their meadow we occupied
it’s of no use you know - they’ll be back here,
they always are.
gather up the unfortunates, find a shelter, a job, a care
or put them in jail, charge them for disturbing the peace,
the fastest way to save them from freezing
find solid solutions or they’ll be back here, they usually do.
ticket the driver for disturbing the peace
charge him for his impatience, his flamboyance.
Cross your t’s and dot your i’s.
The geese are there in their wild.
So we leave them be, and that should be.
But the drummer, the man on the corner,
their predicaments I can’t fathom.
I can’t meet their eyes, I hold no remedies,
but I should not leave them be, that should not be.
and the fancy car driver?
He’s a bystander, he’ll go another route next time.
Finally, punctuate. End the sentence but don’t kill it.
Question mark for all the queries:
How did they get here?
What is tomorrow for their growing population?
Why did they lose their homes?
Where else can they go?
When did it all begin, when does it end?
Who, if not I, can help?
Exclamation point:
the annoyance for these city poopers,
the warnings to choose another path,
they’ll get run over!
the anger and frustrations,
(because) I want to bring them home
shout it out over the muscle engine.
Period, to close the door.
Complacency or surrender.
No more arguments.
Your sentence ends here.
Choose a subject:
the geese at the curb,
the bucket beaters on the street islands,
the cart pushers, the corner sitters,
or the fancy car driver who just sped by.
Choose a predicate:
cross the streets in single file,
stop traffic with bodacious beats,
holding up placards, one-sentence life stories
break my heart,
honks horn at the car in front,
he stops for the geese, or taken by the drummers.
For more complicated sentences, add clauses:
people should be allowed to hunt the birds,
healthy choice since they’re in the wild,
What wild? This is the city, for crying out loud.
No hunting here!
round up the nuisance, the traffic hazards, find a meadow,
but this is their meadow we occupied
it’s of no use you know - they’ll be back here,
they always are.
gather up the unfortunates, find a shelter, a job, a care
or put them in jail, charge them for disturbing the peace,
the fastest way to save them from freezing
find solid solutions or they’ll be back here, they usually do.
ticket the driver for disturbing the peace
charge him for his impatience, his flamboyance.
Cross your t’s and dot your i’s.
The geese are there in their wild.
So we leave them be, and that should be.
But the drummer, the man on the corner,
their predicaments I can’t fathom.
I can’t meet their eyes, I hold no remedies,
but I should not leave them be, that should not be.
and the fancy car driver?
He’s a bystander, he’ll go another route next time.
Finally, punctuate. End the sentence but don’t kill it.
Question mark for all the queries:
How did they get here?
What is tomorrow for their growing population?
Why did they lose their homes?
Where else can they go?
When did it all begin, when does it end?
Who, if not I, can help?
Exclamation point:
the annoyance for these city poopers,
the warnings to choose another path,
they’ll get run over!
the anger and frustrations,
(because) I want to bring them home
shout it out over the muscle engine.
Period, to close the door.
Complacency or surrender.
No more arguments.
Your sentence ends here.
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