Turn left on Fourth Street
going east on Washington Avenue
and there in the old train depot
are the figure skaters placing pirouettes
in the air, gently landing on any melody
that comes to mind.  Today as I drive by
on my way to teach at 10th and Washington
a course called sudden fiction
I am not just stopped at the light,
I am forced to pull over
to the side to make room for the fire engine
followed by an ambulance going west
all the while the skaters never lose a beat
gracefully gliding over smooth surfaces
mirroring their images all the while keeping
in rhythm to the defibrillator in the ambulance
steadying a rhythm of someone who is keeping beat
to his own drum, steadying pulse
hoping to catch a ride on the reading
or at least leave a teetotem
sure enough to turn this fact into a sudden
work of fiction.