walking man

The roar of impatient engines

Threatening disaster

But never enough to overthrow the system

The light is an unyielding red

Accompanied by the hand of god

Demanding they stop and parting a street

For pedestrians

The bright white walking man

Commands the motion of the lame, slow

As they begin to cross into dangerous territory

A stark hot blackness

So close to the growling

The only protection is a thick white line

Strong but weak

The pedestrians move not fast enough

And the hand of god begins to count down

It does not have to part the seas forever

Their pace increases

But one is left behind

He stops

Just as the hand instructed

There is s cold moment of hesitation

As the cars contemplate his action

Obedience or disobedience?

One is heresy to god

The pact of the lines and poles and lights

Has been broken

The cars wish to burn the pariah

The other is extremism

For him the hand of god is greater than the most common of sense

And by that measure

He should die still

The now green light and the new walking man

Herald an end

The end of the pedestrian pariah-saint.