Zeitgeist

 ZEITGEIST 

7:15 am

rancid steam sweeps

around a downtown bus

arkansas democrat

lies curled in its rack

the curbside clock-tower

hands out the news

i am but a traveler of time and space

passing through

on my way to school

7:40 am

python roots entangle and crack

the pawpaw strewn sidewalks

that mark my passage

a soprano sings

from an  antebellum  mansion

in a ghostly trill

locked behind a wrought-iron fence

i walk on freely

yet an aura of magnolia lingers

8:30 am

high mass at saint eduard's

specks of infinity

toss and tumble like dice

in a stained-glass light

saints stare into space

with wooden eyes

from their vaulted niche

almost heaven to my german ancestors

i see another faith more relative

12:00 pm

an altar boy rides a bell pull

and the church bells clang

at mac arthur's park

a transistor radio's tuned

to the yankees in the world series

i slide into a gum tree and

kick up a 1911 lincoln head penny

every minute seems to be

one big game

1:00 pm

show and tell time

rocket man

circumnavigates the earth

my grandfather's indian arrowheads

in the dutch master cigar box

make an impression

with the girl in the front desk

she thinks i'm great

and i learn the world loves a hero

3:15 pm

school day ends

protestant schoolboy

sets aside the taunts

echoes the headline news

president assassinated

the drive home

on the segregated bus

will take a little time

to reach the interchange

© Breyel, Timm. "Zeitgeist". All rights reserved.