The High Street

from here

A thoroughfare of cars, pedestrians, and cyclists

And shops
The same stores repeated block by block
Where people pay the equivalent of a month's rent for a pair of shoes
And other people
Sit on the ground 
Outside the glass and concrete
And beg for something to eat, or a cigarette, or change. 

To See

Whilst I was running in the park

A photographer had stopped on the grass

And was looking up at a tree

A kite had been left in the empty branches

Looking like an overgrown leaf

Like the tree had mustered the last of its autumnal energy

Combined all its palette into one gigantuan effort 

And pushed out a fabulous frond in bright technicolor glory

And with my eyes opened 

I later spotted a blossom tree in full bloom 

In the middle of winter! 

It was so pretty

So unexpected! 

And I gave silent thanks

To the photographer

Whose eyes I hadn't even met

For helping me to see 

Close up

The end.