Looking down.

Look down, boy, my Old Man warned
or recommended as a means of taking note
of all the places we might not look
We find all sorts of feet and faces
of those that pass us by or stop
to find a place to shelter
or leave behind a trace
Of what they carry in their paces.

Watch without being watched, Know without being known

Some secrets of other lives revealed.

Of waiting and sheltering and moving on

to find or be found by whom they seek 

Under the shelter from those that look down with contempt and ridicule

while you look up and see nothing.

People seek the light and shade, the place to dine
the way home the friend, their god,
even the tree is alone when we look down.
Look for things between the cracks
the stuff worth finding and leave the rest
to turn to dust.