picketers stand along the sidewalk like
parishioners outside church
children in a bank
chickens in a barnyard
smokers at smoke-free bingo
paparrazzi outside a high-end restaurant
drunks in a tavern
strippers at a groom’s stag
a grim solemn vigil
a silly playfulness
a nonsensically aimless pacing
a seething frustration
an eager cajoling professionalism
a reckless impetus
a shameless display of yearning
it is civilized war
with rules:
— quaint conservatism
retained from a previous era
