People Watching Poem by Leonard Dabydeen

People watching everywhere

have eyes with stories

far beyond the wings

of their imagination

some eyes look

into other eyes

in a waiting room

trying to decipher

what story brings them

for an x-ray

or maybe a test

for rectal dysfunction

people watching cannot tell

every story is a secret

locked within the retinas

on a bench in the park

people are shuffling

New York Times

looking for answers

in a recession

while pigeons strut

on the dehydrated lawn

picking at bread crumbs

children are playing

in a school yard

some ready for a tussle

to make racial profiling

another story to tell

far, far beyond the oceans

hunger eats away

at the flesh with plenty

of water meandering

where homes were

like a jewel of real estate

as people watching

cannot see hope

at the dawn of a new day

but people watching

must continue

without falling asleep.