No. 228 - Doing Nothing

2:12pm

Sometimes you have to do nothing
Just sit on a park bench
Feel the Hill Country breeze on your neck
Stare at pecan trees
Admire Italianate architecture
Guess what people are up to

Lady in a mustard and burgundy dress
with a beaded Indian purse
Silver bracelets and grey hair

County worker tilling soil in a navy shirt
Khakis held up by elastic suspenders
Red face and tan forearms

Big-breasted woman in a white tank top
Black cowboy hat and jean shorts
Auburn hair and knee-high boots

Ten minutes ago I was pining to do something
Anything, feeling guilty for sitting
Should I drive to Marfa?

Two American flags
Blowing in the wind
Close my eyes and say the pledge of allegiance

I guess I’ll sit here a while longer
Enjoy the breeze
And light another cigarette

4:06pm

I’m back in my motel room …

Behind a teal sheer curtain is an old farmhouse with a front porch swing. All that breaks up the view of a farm is an oak tree with the remnants of a tree fort and a wooden telephone pole. There’s an old chicken coop with a rusty roof and dandelions around the mailbox. Four lawn chairs from the ’50s sit around a rotted-out cable spool. Save for an occasional pickup, the street between us is empty. I find the solitude comforting.

I’m reading Dharma Bums
in my boxer shorts

The wall-mounted air conditioner is set to 62°
It’ll never get there, and it hums

On a table is my cowboy hat
Sunglasses
Keys to my rental
Needlepoint wallet
And two mints from the cleaning lady

I think I’ll lay here a while longer
Enjoy the AC
And light another cigarette