Dian Duchin Reed

Have You Seen This Person?

Haven’t you met one of these people? The ones who are always kind and smiling. This clerk at city hall, for example. Long lines full of the rushed and irritable make no difference. I remember the others also: the bus driver, the drug-store checker, the driver’s license renewer. There aren’t many, but their appearance is easy to explain. Clearly, they’re aliens visiting Earth, writing dissertations on what they find here, or maybe they’re training for their planet’s Patience Olympics. Of course, I could be wrong about them. It’s possible that they’re meant to be a good example for us locals, but – based on the results I see around me – their funding is about to run out.

summer solstice
too much light
also a problem