The traffic grid operates smoothly and seriously
Forwards and back, in rows and columns
Directions painted in asphalt, and hung from poles
The road's instructions are obeyed unflinchingly
All these drivers are too serious to do otherwise
As they rush off to their serious lives

The doctors are serious
The lawyers are serious
The cleaners are serious
The gardeners are serious

It seems everyone is serious but me
In the park, reading Kerouac against a tree.