why i walk

counting people again again. this time

walking through saturday’s

stillness and haze

to the bagel shop for breakfast.

lifting my right hand sternum-high

palm forward

tipping out and over: a wave for every passer-by,

eye contact, and hello.

42 people.

17 on foot

(5 with dogs)

and 25 in cars.

investing 42 hellos

brings the following returns:

walkers:

         12 smiles and/or hellos

(2 before i even spoke,

1 startled, 4 non-commital,

5 genuinely pleased to be met)

            5 ignores

            (3 with headphones to muffle the morning

            1 unaccounted

            and 1 awkward avoidance by

            the man in wellies and bathrobe

            watching empty-handed as his large and wolly dog

            squats to shit on the neighbor’s lawn)

drivers:

            24 ignores, their worlds

            moving pictures sealed behind glass.

            1 open mouthed “o” trying desperately

            to place my unfamiliar face
            before i disappear into her mirrors.

addendum: number of walkers in my sight

            who drifted their hands through the feathery tips

            of the purple fountain grass that grows

  at herkimer and locke:

            2 (of a possible 3)

            number of drivers:

            0 (of a possible 6)