The Thinking Sapling

Alex sat on the bench
Legs crossed, with snacks and pens.
They looked up and saw clouds.
With a frown, they looked back down.

Day by day, Alex went and sat.
Always alone, they’d come back.
There, they wrote on the page.
Their face it covered like a cage.

In the trees, the birds chirp.
Around them hung an air of mirth.
The lake was filled with lively ducks
And lively children ran amok.

Still, Alex sat on the bench.
Legs crossed, with snacks and pens.
Writing of the lonely day,
they sat there awaiting rain.

One day, a cat came to roam.
It passed their legs to and fro.
Alex shooed, begged it’d stop,
but, snack in mouth, away it hopped.

Alex chased it down the path.
Pass children who giggled and laughed.
Ducks and birds fled in their wake
as the pair circled around the lake.

Now, Alex sat on the bench,
legs crossed, with snacks and pens.
Writing about the sunny day
they chased a cat down the lane.

The cat returned to start the chase.
Pass the children in their wake.
Ducks and birds no longer startled
by the routine of joyous trouble.

Alex sat with snacks and pens.
They wrote about the ducks and children.
Their book was down, their face free.
A smile adorned for all to see.

One day, the cat did not return.
Days turned to weeks, joy to concern.
A month has passed; the cat’s still gone.
Snacks in hand from dusk till dawn.

Alex walked the routine path,
waved at children, who giggled and laughed,
approached the birds, who stood unbothered,
then stopped and smiled by the water.

Now Alex sat on the bench.
Legs crossed, with snacks and pens.
With heavy hands and a book on their lap,
they wrote of ducks, children, and cats.