“Cheered”

A NEW Word Pictures Guy Poem

We stood in the staging ground
For the city Christmas parade
Watching from the other side of the street
The floats prep for their turn to join
The procession.

And then it started.

Floats were distpactched,
Lurching out into the street
In slow motion
To glide past waiting crowds.

Directly across from us was a float
With the words O Holy Night
Stretched across its side,
And inside, a crowd of children prepared to sing
Or play the musical instruments
Poised in front of them,
Held at the ready.

But it wasn’t their turn to join.
Apparently they held a later number
On the parade list
Because they had a long time to wait
For their turn to turn out into the street.
So as they watched the other floats roll by,
They cheered them on.
For every float, there arose from the children
A round of applause
And a spontaneous cheer of joy
And encouragement and delight,
Cheering the other floats on.

Floats that sprayed soap-sud snow at them
Or had particularly spectacular lights
Or giant sparklers sparking
Received particularly loud cheers.

But every one was cheered,
And it seemed to me that we would all do well
To play attention to everyone passing by,
And to find a way to cheer them on.

Everyone who passed was cheered.

They never saw me standing across the street
Hidden in the dim light and the crowding spectators.

But I, too, was cheered.