First Street

Just outside the bar,

Which faces the main street,

Upon the makeshift patio 

There is a space between

Two slim beams of wood

Where I can see part of the 5.

Vehicles separate with glimpses of this city,

Headed in opposite directions.

For a second I imagine what it must be like

To scatter images across their eyes

Like a thundering flash of light,

Only to be forgotten just as it’s seen.

This is what it’s like to be and then not to be.

Our lives, gradually reduced to grains

Upon time’s sandy shores,

In one second, passing through

A city that’s barely seen.