Why I was Late Coming Back from Lunch

Well, I could say I stopped to smell the wild
roses blooming sweet as honey wine
or, that I bought some ice cream for a child
who'd dropped his cone. Or, I had to find
a way around construction at the transit
mall. Or, I heard the drawbridge warning sound
and though I could have crossed, I didn't chance it,
had to wait, or go the long way round.

Ah, excuses. Every one's a lie.
The truth: I stopped to watch the ospreys rise
above the Esplanade. Their courting cries
arrested me. I stopped to watch a great
blue heron fly up past the interstate.
I stopped, for just a breath, to touch the sky.

Collection available! Knocking from Inside