(no subject)
"Schadenfreude"
In the window of McDonald's,
Enjoying my fries
When this very good looking young man sauntered by.
Blonde hair, square jaw, immaculately dressed,
Leather boots, tight jeans,
smart jacket and vest
Striking a pose
Youthful, carefree
And also twenty years younger than me.
Though I didn't think he saw me
My youth no longer before me
Sitting alone with my burger and fries
Looking out through aging eyes
His gaze suddenly skyward
In a superior curve
He rolled his eyes at me
like I had some nerve
As if to say
"What are YOU looking at?"
His eyes then slits
Aimed at where I sat
His eyebrows knit, Lips curled
Acting like he was king of the world.
Looking down his nose
Mouth disdainfully pursed
Glaring at me
He mumbled a curse
I suddenly wished
that I could die
My eyes cast downward
And what did I spy...?
There on the pavement
Casually thrown
Inches from his shoe
He couldn't have known
On the ground right there,
Not a shiny nickel,
but from a Cheeseburger,
Someone's discarded pickle.
There it lay
Awaiting a victim
Unwanted and green
And now it had picked him
I saw his shoe step
On that slimy green strip
And then with a yelp
His foot slipped
Legs over his head,
Arms forward they went
As he flew through the air
Towards the cement
Like a slow motion recap
I watched, behind glass
As he came crashing down
Right there on his ass.
His clothes covered in grease
And god knows what else
He let out a yelp
No-one offered him help.
As he got to his feet
I felt a small thrill
Grateful to a stranger
with no liking for dill,
Who had thrown their pickle right out on the street
Never knowing who it might meet
I laughed to myself
These are dangerous times
You should watch where you're going
And finished my fries.