Watching

I wandered into Straus Park today
To read
I found a bench
Near an old man in rolled pants and sandals.
I checked out the flowers
Took in the sounds of the fountain
Saw birds watching children
Seeking an opening to splash
They soared and zoomed overhead
A lot
There were two parents
Talking
And two kids three or four years old running faster than the birds could soar
Around and around the fountain.
They crouched low
To remove shoes and socks
I waited to hear what the parents would say
I wanted drama
I didn't get
A peep
Except for the birds.
Those kids treated that fountain like Orchard Beach
And it wasn't even warm
They got all soaked and wet
I wondered if I would have allowed my own two such leeway
Forty years ago in this same park
When it was run down and overrun
But
Weren’t we all the same?
The old man
The birds
The kids
The over sixty ladies with hats and magazines
Watching