picture perfect day

I run in side streets

five minute increments to increase my fitness

brown chickens battle cats for scraps

the sun hangs low and fat at the end of this lane

overturned shopping trolley

lolls   its belly empty

one wheel turns a slow rotation

in this backyard lives a yellow crane

suppose they have to go somewhere

at the end of each day

boy with black hair texture of ink

carries his skateboard

along the dry creek bed

a small neat woman sweeps

the patch of dirt outside her house

into a dustpan   and takes it inside

grunting man digs up his front yard

rolls of fake grass stacked along the driveway

ready to be laid

my heart hurts but my feet are steady

on Sunshine Road I am startled

by a barking sound hurled from a passing ute

it is not a dog

it is a man making a noise like a dog

maybe he thinks he is being funny

the shout stabs a hole through my fitness goal

reduced to a walk I seek out alleyways  

running seems too loud now

for this picture perfect day

instead I kick cans pick up a stick and tap my way

along wooden fence palings

looking for a different way home