The Empty Bench
Why does the bench in the park today lie empty?
What could be the reason for this unique soliloquy?
The place where associations have often been frayed,
Where the enactment of affections have been played.
Why does the bench in the park lie empty today?
The place where everlasting friendships have been made,
This seat which always hears, but never judges,
The vicious gossip, and surreptitious human grudges.
Why does the bench in the park today lie empty?
The place where bad news conveyed, while silently wept he,
A proud father’s first-born, a girl, announced with pomp,
The slum boy’s daily meal finished with one chomp
Why does the bench in the park lie empty today?
The unassuming couple’s guilty secret of love made,
This seat that knows all about flawed human nature,
Another teenage pregnancy, should it have preached her?
Why does the bench in the park today lie empty?
The place of silent meditation, mood swings aplenty,
That homeless man’s nightly palais-grande,
That stirred boy’s promise of ‘someday…’
No more do we have time to leisurely ‘sit and stare’.
To escape our mundane existence, strip our emotions bare.
To let loose ones frustrations, engage in trivial parley,
Why does the bench in the park lie empty today?
PS: The reference to W. H Davies is purely intentional. J
