His nerves were frazzled.
Too many people congregating in the streets.
Car horns blaring,
Traffic jostling at the stoplight.
The crowded theaters,
and the packed stores.
The incessant rambling
of the preacher on the corner
near the courthouse,
who thought he knew
when the world would end.
He endured the nasty cashier
at the grocery store,
and the rude waiter at the restaurant.
He survived the lines at the mall,
and the packing for his trip,
and the delays at the airport.
He only sought a moment’s peace,
in a busy life
that had too few moments,
to reflect
and to pray.
When the world stopped,
and everyone was at home,
indefinitely,
and afraid to go out,
he reveled in it
for a moment.
He had a moment’s peace,
and then another,
and then another.
Then, in a moment of recognition,
he realized that he only wanted
to go to the store,
and for a drive in the car,
and to a theater for a movie,
and shopping at the mall,
and a hearing at the courthouse,
and to buy things at the grocery store,
while standing in a long line.
He realized that he loved the music of the car horns,
and the blinking of the stoplights,
and the roar of the car’s engine,
and the rude waitress,
and the promise of travel
to distant places.
It felt like living.
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