{"id":1472,"date":"2021-06-22T10:40:16","date_gmt":"2021-06-22T17:40:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ralockhart.com\/WP\/?p=1472"},"modified":"2021-06-22T10:40:16","modified_gmt":"2021-06-22T17:40:16","slug":"looking-forward-to-walking-the-streets-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ralockhart.com\/WP\/looking-forward-to-walking-the-streets-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Looking forward to walking the streets again…"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Sidewalk Kingdom<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
\n
He claimed the corner sidewalk his domain<\/div>\n
the traffic signal his moat control:<\/div>\n
green, inviting pedestrians to risk wild<\/div>\n
gesticulations, raucous shouts and such;<\/div>\n
red, producing claims of victory<\/div>\n
and a dance of celebratory turnings.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
The old woman pulling a half-filled cart<\/div>\n
got half-way across on green, saw<\/div>\n
the corner king, turned, scrambled back.<\/div>\n
Next, a young mother, pushing a stroller<\/div>\n
with babe shielded from the king\u2019s view,<\/div>\n
finally saw and heard and froze.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
The king was jubilant as he watched<\/div>\n
the stricken mom and breaking cars<\/div>\n
he stomped and bellowed joy<\/div>\n
almost falling as I asked his back,<\/div>\n
\u201cDo you dream? In the night?\u201d<\/div>\n
He turned, his turn for fright.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\u201cScratch and ramble,\u201d he threatened<\/div>\n
as if it was enough to send me away.<\/div>\n
\u201cItch and bramble,\u201d I answered back.<\/div>\n
He cocked his head in listening pose<\/div>\n
\u201cTell me then and the money\u2019s yours.\u201d<\/div>\n
He eyed the dollar I waved around.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\u201cFire,\u201d he yelled, as passersby took<\/div>\n
a wide berth. \u201cFire, fire,\u201d screaming<\/div>\n
at the averting eyes. \u201cDoes the fire<\/div>\n
touch you?\u201d He cocks his head again.<\/div>\n
\u201cAlways.\u201d he answers, \u201c It never<\/div>\n
hurts. Never burns.\u201d \u201cPassion,\u201d I say.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\u201cWe need some chalk,\u201d I continue.<\/div>\n
\u201cChalky chalk and chalky talk.\u201d<\/div>\n
Cocks his head to hear what I\u2019ll say.<\/div>\n
\u201cYellow and red are all we need.<\/div>\n
Stay, I\u2019ll get some from the drug store.\u201d<\/div>\n
Chalk as medication I mutter to myself.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
Chalk in hand, I bend down, draw<\/div>\n
flames around the borders of one of<\/div>\n
the squares on the corner sidewalk.<\/div>\n
\u201cGet in,\u201d I say, \u201cand sit down,\u201d I<\/div>\n
instruct. \u201cHere\u2019s the chalk; it\u2019s yours.<\/div>\n
Use it when you occupy a corner again.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
From Dreams From the Street<\/em><\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sidewalk Kingdom He claimed the corner sidewalk his domain the traffic signal his moat control: green, inviting pedestrians to risk wild gesticulations, raucous shouts and such; red, producing claims of victory and a dance of celebratory turnings. The old woman pulling a half-filled cart got half-way across on green, saw the corner king, turned, scrambled […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-coming-soon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ralockhart.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ralockhart.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ralockhart.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ralockhart.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ralockhart.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1472"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ralockhart.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1472\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1473,"href":"https:\/\/www.ralockhart.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1472\/revisions\/1473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ralockhart.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ralockhart.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ralockhart.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}