You Can See Life Go By Here Poem by Bill Galvin

This street is alive…
Life streams thru this quaint Maryland harbor town,
Where traffic is purposefully slowed
To allow the town to breathe, and remain refreshed.
The same road in and out, a peninsular town…
So, everyone who goes that way, comes back this way.
A main street with shops, eating and drinking spots;
Old history respected, preserved, honored, and retained.

One looks between two magnolia trees, and sees…
A small tractor heading up-field to do farm work;
A pod of bicyclists squawking truncated conversations;
Older lovers moseying together on the sidewalk,
Silently cocooned within their respective memories;
Friends power walking, meeting, stopping measured time,
To spark short, quick updates of their lives;
Business owners driving to unlock their doors;
Genteel and watchful folks keeping an eye on things;
Backpacks of books being borne to school;
Locals hoping that they will not end up driving behind
Visitors who window shop from their cars;
The occasional guy needing a noisy diesel truck;
Speed enforcers doing their duty to keep the pace slow;
Box trucks, large and small, receiving and delivering;
A herd of motorcyclists, gearing down to keep the peace;
A boat being hauled to or from the water;
Walkers pacing to town for exercise or for coffee.

And when evening lays its dusky mantle down,
Traffic dims, as well…
To open the ways for couples strolling in streetlight;
And to urge the steeple bells to be heard.

Unhurried or harried, quiet or not,
Life, in all its glory, goes by here…
In this peaceful, easy-walking, easy-talking town.

10-9-2015 (St Michaels, MD)