Lonely Man

By: Alison Stephens

A lonely man sits on the side of the road
He sings a song,
La, la, la.
He stops, silence.
Red, green, yellow, red, green, yellow
The light keeps turning
Over and over
But no one is in sight, besides the lonely man
Abandoned buildings, collapsed houses
No one is there, but the lonely man.
The light keeps going, going, going
The lonely man sits, waits
Waiting for something, anything
A person, a sign, just waiting
Can he do something?
Yes? No? Who’s to decide?
Him, you, me?
Him, only he can decide
And while he’s waiting
The lights keep turning
Time keeps turning
And he’s just sitting,
Waiting, wasting his life, wasting his time

A lonely man sits on the side of the road
He sings a song,
La, la, la.
He stops, silence.
The lights are still turning
But this time as he watches
He’s not waiting
He’s not waiting for a person, or a sign
He’s looking
He’s not wasting his life, his time
He’s living.

A lonely man sat by the side of the road.
That lonely man has moved on.