I was sitting on my front step
there was a little boy on his tricycle inching across the sidewalk
with cautious steady movement
his grandfather followed from behind,
a fat middle aged woman pulled up in a white car
with a long cigarette smoldering in her mouth
she yelled “wear a helmet!”
with a voice that has made men into drunkards
the grand father lifted up the helmet and brandished it at the fat woman
and she drove off in a storm
the old man stopped and watched the little boy
move slowly across the pavement
then put the helmet on his own head
and spat into the grass.