Arthur Shines

while waiting for a long line
of cars to continue a crawl
to a stop light where i'd
wait for a light i spent my
time looking around-- beyond
the narrow confines of car tops
to a panorama of life in this era

an american flag painted on a
large wood panal next to an oversized
sign the size of an eighteen wheeler
and painted on a wide black strip in
well designed cursive: Arthur Murray
and in smaller letters two words I can't read
but figure it says dance studio
and right beneath this - although a bit
of separation- a black sign with white
lettering drawing me like the lighthouse
beacon painted on the left--directly under
Arthur's name, and on the right in large
print the words: Light of Life-- and skip
to the next line to read Church--
and all the while a round yellow sign
rotates with one word visible--Shack

and if you keep your eye moving
to the right a bus inches along,
but no need to hurry because the
front sign reads Not In Service