Sidewalk shimmering
Two boys playing basketball
Wearing red shorts, no shirts
Cardinal drinking from the dog bowl
By the water fountain
Two women walk slowly
Around the park perimeter
Talking of children and work
And husbands and the state
Of the world
A border collie sniffs the places where
Rabbits stopped to eat clover
Nearby a woman with a leash in hand
Watches, smiling
Overhead a vulture circles, languidly
Catching an updraft, it circles higher
The wind picks up carrying the scent
Of milkweed and creek bottom
A snapping turtle emerges from
Under a rock, resting in the sun