The Street Bench

Merry late Christmas! And Happy New Year this week! I'll keep this one brief because you all probably have better things to do than read a bunch of words during your break haha!

This week's content comes from an idea I developed while serving in Staines-Upon-Thames on April 7th, 2022. I would walk up and down the "high street" with my companion every day and "wear our soles out" 一as some people would tell us. I passed this bench every day and made it a personal goal to always talk to whoever was sitting there no matter what!

I found it so interesting that each person that sat there had a completely different story yet they sat on the same bench at some point or another. So, here is my perception in poetry:

"The Street Bench"

Up and down, to and fro,

I strolled in solo blunder.

Taken by the windy blow,

The street light, past and under.

But never did it catch my eye,

That solitary construct,

Until, one day, I passed it by,

And beheld its daily product.

A street bench perched in lonesome plight,

一At least, that's what I'd thought一

Stared me back, under the light,

And with it, wonder brought.

How many souls had warmed its seat?

How many walked it past?

Different faces, different feet,

Each with a story vast!

Oh how I long to meet the man

Who found comfort on its wood.

Or see a pigeon caravan,

Right from the place I stood.

To witness of the snowy sheet,

And rainfall on its shape,

Or see its view of busy street

And test its quick escape.

For as I stop and study it,

And survey its worn frame,

I'd never guess, in the least bit:

This street bench knows my pain.

-Cale K. Montoya (12/29/23)

I really love the majestic flow of this one. When I wrote it, I pictured an empty street in dim lighting and a mysterious bench. That's the art of poetry, it means something different "in the eyes of the beholder."

The main purpose of this piece is to portray the astronomical idea that there are so many lives being lived right now. Everyone has a story and if you were to take the time to observe and understand every individual who passed you in the street, you would know what it feels like to be a street bench haha!

Anyways, thanks for tuning in this week, hopefully it was short enough!

Happy holidays!

-Cale Montoya