Ideas in Common Places

They sit under a tree
With a dove in one branch
And pass the afternoon

Talking about absent
Family members, sharing
Stories, joking, watching

The life-flight chopper fly
Over the sandstone cliffs
In Zion, wondering,

Was it a heart attack?
Leaves land on them. One draws
A scene of a card game.

One goes inside to get
His handheld radio
For park condor wardens,

To see if the chatter
Can explain the chopper,
While another explains

The etymology
Of topic, and the fourth
Remembers a thick book

She read once, all about
The life and suffering
Of Van Gogh. Did you know

He sold just one painting
In his lifetime? Voices
Squawk from the radio

But say nothing about
Reasons for the life flight.
Ideas aren’t that common.