This man, this woman
           are the city—
           the child’s toys
stuffed
in a cardboard box—
           sagging at the edges,
and a blue tricycle
one handlebar
           askew, its flag of
           colored plastic streamers
lifted by the rush
           of passing cars—
a three-legged table, car tires
stacked like lopsided
           dishes—
        and two black and whites
parked
back to back
      along the curb—
one with its amber light
           flashing.

This article appears in Fall Literary Review 2021.

Gerald McCarthy's most recent book of poetry is Door in the Wall (Spuyten Duyvil Press, 2020).