So often it’s the beaten
old, paint peeling downtown
house with the broken bicycle
on the front porch and uncut
grass covering the tiny front
yard that has a sign tied
to the chain link fence
next to the public sidewalk saying
NO TRESPASSING,
meaning that even though there’s
nothing inside worth stealing
and nothing going on
worth watching that it’s
all that they’ve got
and everything they
can do just to keep
their heads above
the dirty water should
the river ever rise
so high
and the Earth cease
to provide the
beautiful comfort of its
smooth, unbroken spin.