East Of Enrichment Poem by John Weber

Skinny kid in baggy clothes
hovers in front of your house.
With eyes hidden behind a half-cocked
Yankees hat, he spies the stroller and
other items on your porch like a
chicken hawk ready to swoop.

We burst from our spot with
advantage of perception
and a thrill for the hunt
to spook the predatory misfit
as he runs to the back of
his Isuzu to slam shut the hatch

before hopping into the purring
machine to tear up the road,
wounded but not vanquished.
We share a knowing glance
that reverberates with a message
blazing the synapses with one word,

“diligence”.