Right there, above the big crack
on the edge of the curb,

bracketed by two fallen leaflets from
a crimson Chinese pistache tree,

there it is: Love on the sidewalk.
The inquisitive part of me wonders

who inscribed it and why. How long
has it sent this arms-wide-open

message on the corner of Pala and 50th
to any and all passers- and drivers-by?

Probably goes unseen by most walkers
like the ones this afternoon hanging

onto the ends of leashes, but most likely
sniffed by many dogs, who, even if

they can’t read it, certainly know love
when they smell it.