If I lived in Chicago, I wonder if there would be a constant tug
from the neat, locked stream that runs through the Lurie Garden–
if I would wake up every morning and think about arranging
my day so I could lower myself onto the smooth, gray-planked
walkway, remove my shoes and couple them nearby,
and then, one by one, set my feet into the clear, gentle, running water,
wiggling down so my feet touch the bottom, watching the tiny river
run over pennies and dimes and nickels, musing about the wishes there,
gazing up at the sky and then at the garden between me and it
wearing clouds like a fancy hat, feeling a peaceful fellowship with the
other wanderers there, most with their feet in the man-made flow,
and none looking at their phones except for the occasional picture.
*City in a Garden, Chicago’s motto
Susan Fuchtman 