It's Still Life

The Man Who Sits on a Step at the Duck Pond

I’ve yet to see that man smile, a face
set like thick-sawn wood. He moves
only rarely so as to not appear dead.

He says everything in this little town
is one of two things – either alive or
dead. Yet he’s never happier in life

than when he’s well stuck in a mood.
And he takes a knife from his pocket,
slices deep into an apple, and eats it.

Photo by Jaime Top on Unsplash. ©Misky 2021 Shared with #apoemaday on Twitter