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The Old Picture II (poem)

By Horace Coleman

Browner than a garden gnome,
but taller and clean shaven,
a gaggle of boys frame him
(naked, peaked hat, mini flip-flops).

A more serious youngster
with a slightly startled gaze
(haloed by a bicycle wheel)
looks at the American freezing them all
(including the laughing woman behind them)
in the instance.

Another youngster, wary but watching,
peeks between two taller boys.
The centered one, his recently infant
belly bulging slightly,
is a serene young Buddha.
Looking at the future;
ready to encounter
all that comes.

– Horace Coleman