Vignette

By Earle Thompson

In the doorway
he lay in a fetal position
on cardboard
reality.

She felt the January mist
she turned back, shivering,
to the bay
and continued with her route;
Seeing the man, she asked him:
"Are you all right?"

"Yes, can you help..."

She said:
"...there is something
I learned from a television
program last
night.
In a legend of Moon woman
and Sun
they stay together
in darkness and
light..."

The man awkwardly
rose
thanking her
and walking
in the other direction.

A Real Change vendor
hawks his wares
she listens to the siren
searching her valise
to write this
down and the traffic signs
change.