Along the Way: A Little Book of Poems

I’m driving to work listening to
“Morning Edition” on NPR.
As I pass by the Galleria shopping mall,

How did I get here?
Why am I always in the wrong lane
when I get to the traffic light?

Who are you my gentle children?
What souls are you, struggling so
hard to be heard, to be respected?

What happened to your innocence,
dear children? Your acts of kindness?
Your sweetness?

Where do you go to cry?
Have you a place?
Do not think that because