Seattle
 

A kaleidescope of umbrellas disembarked
 

Hovering above trench coats, uniform in tan and black,
 

Faces awakening to the day, shielded and mufflered;
 

Gray clouds, heavy as cement, obliterated expected signals of time
 

Commuters marched across the viaduct; the city throbbed awake
 

With coffee, the news, the store keepers’ welcoming waves,
 

Dog walkers with their barking companions,
 

Acknowledging friendship and joi de vivre.
 

Pike’s Market, a bouquet and a side show,
 

Chefs, tourists, shoppers, each on a mission. Or not.
 

Musicians aboard the streetcars heading south
 

Or, an alternative, veering west, hearing but not listening to
 

The Bainbridge ferry’s mournful horn. The boat leans outward,
 

To escape its brief mooring. It sings a basso aria,
 

A sonorous timbre from its depths.  The crew casts off the tethers,
 

To take on the currents, the waves, the cold of Puget Sound.
 

Freedom laps the islands’ shores.
 

Humanity chooses a direction, beauty shining on every side.