At The Sidewalk... Poem by RIC BASTASA

the mother was peeling
raw, green mangoes

selling them to kids in the
nearby elementary school

her son plays alone near
the bakery

there are no other kids
there anyway

lots of people walking to
and from like pendulums

the mother was so busy
attending to her small livelihood

the little boy falls off the sidewalk
hits her forehead on the pavement

the mother did not notice because
the street is noisy

at first the boy cried then stood up
and rearranges everything

he appears to his mother and
attaches his body on her side

the mother kisses his forehead
as though nothing happens

there must be a story behind this
why the boy has no father

why the mother takes charge of
having to sell mangoes to earn

she takes shelter under a big umbrella
beside a vending bicycle...