Washington and Court

At the Corner of Washington and Court Streets

Railroad crossing, pizzeria
Second-hand store and galleria
Grain and feed, muffler shop
Filling station and the E-Z Stop

Just a small town intersection
Convenient place to get direction
Residents seldom give it a thought
Those driving through, less than that

Pumping petrol, I stand transfixed
Seeing details I have often missed
Signs of hope and love and living
Of joy and pain, of caring and giving

Sitting alone in her car
a woman sobs a silent sorrow
Soaking up warmth an African violet
sunbathes in the muffler shop window
Holding hands in the pizza place
a young couple shares a Coke
And in the thrift shop two old friends
laugh together at some old joke
The convenience store clerk in a private moment
dances to the iTunes playing in his ear
A heart and initials carved in the crossing
witness young love that may endure

Just a place where two village drives
intersect with so many lives
Just a small town intersection
and, just maybe, a little vision of Heaven

(By C. Eric Funston)