Memorial Day

This is actually what I saw in preparation for the 4th of July, but I imagined it for Memorial Day as well.

           Memorial Day

Empty lawn chairs have lined Main Street
since sunset, saving the best spots
for seeing the perennial parade.
Now the sunrise finds them still
waiting for the marching band’s one
performance without a half-time
score, for the Chamber of Commerce’s
convertible – complete with smiling
queen, and for the kids on bicycles
wheels woven red, white, and blue.
It’s hours before the scheduled start,
but the real parade has already passed –
as invisible as the absent crowd,
as silent as the deserted street.