I noticed that you were in a hurry.

Thin, grey jacket halfway on,

Chestnut hair tousled,

Eyes on the watch on your wrist.

 

I watched your pace quicken,

And your eyes shift back and forth

For an unoccupied taxi

Or even a public bus stop.

 

I couldn’t tell if you were

On your way to work or school

Because despite your laugh lines,

Your eyes were bright and youthful.

 

Maybe they were wide

because your time was running out,

Or maybe you just became

The richest man in the world.

 

But you realized something,

And stopped for a quick minute

To check inside the bag

Hanging on your shoulder.

 

“Shit,” you muttered,

From what I could tell at least,

And then you moved

To your pockets.

 

The frustration on your forehead

Smoothed itself out.

You pulled out a pair of glasses, and

A little blue box from the pouch of your coat.

 

You opened the box

For a quick moment,

And a wide grin slowly grew

Across your handsome face.

 

Your fears dissolved,

And peace took over

Where your panic

Left.

 

I wanted to give you advice

Or push you forward with

A Good luck or Go get ‘em,

Then something told me you didn’t need it.

 

Maybe it was the sparkle

In your open eyes,

Or the way your tight mouth

Turned into a million-dollar smile.

 

Maybe it was my intuition

That stopped me from moving,

Or even my Jonathan, whose soul

Only continued to live in my heart.

 

Either way,

I knew you were going to be okay

When your hurried pace

Transformed into a skip.

 

Sashay on, young man,

And good luck for the adventure

That will take you to more places

Than any plane ever could.

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Prompt: Pretend you’re sitting in a park. Write an ode (poetry or prose) to a person that might pass your bench. Begin the ode with the line, “I noticed that you were in a hurry…”