Only Parallel

The afternoon was slipping past
In gliding ceremonial
Movements of the magnificent,

Hinting at the weight of a crown,
Light the only crown on its head.
A northern flicker scratched its call,

While the parade of vehicles
Up the mountain road paralleled
The parade of vehicles down.

Systems were rising and falling
As seething people seethed in them,
And if you left these pines’ shadows

To climb inside those vehicles
And listen to their radios
You might have heard of civil war

Or the death of democracy,
The overdue end of the world.
But no. You watched the regal light

Of a star that you doubt could care
Less about the pebbles circling
Its furnace. You heard a flicker.