the street runs through
a good, quiet neighborhood
though cars drive too fast
zipping through crosswalks
where stop signs should stand
guard
amusing themselves
two boys took an orange cone
and placed it in the center
of the street
then evacuated to a spot
out of the radius
of incrimination
to sit and watch
i remembered as a kid
laying double-sided
swaths of masking tape
in the street and waiting
for cars to hit it
then slow down
the sound mimicking a flat
as a pedestrian i laughed
with those boys
and as a driver
i swore at them
but then i just felt bad
only the first handful of cars slowed
and through some kind of
group psychic message
cluing in drivers to the prank
a swarm of cars barely
slowed at all
they left after a few waves
their cynicism confirmed
or the laughter unsatisfied
or their disgust getting
the better of them
Words and Feathers 