Setting Up

It is a day of setting up
And saving seats.
In the morning, birdsong
And air in the uppermost
Register of cool,
I drive the kids to school.
Children dressed up
For fifth grade graduation
Walk into the brick of a building.

I shoulder folded chairs,
Walk across the street
To the town square
Where I find a place
To sit this evening
When we attend a play.
Even this early the best seats
Are taken, but really no seat is bad.

Back across the street to sit
On a bench set in a grove,
Drink coffee. Read
Until time comes to rise,
Enter the auditorium, and find
Seats from which to watch
My son conclude
His time here.
It is springtime.

For the children,
Summer begins at noon.
In the evening we will find
The chairs I set up at dawn.
We will watch the play. We will
Have a good view of the stage.
In the park are many chairs.
I went to prepare a place for us.

June 15, 2010