WALL LAUGHS

The man sits in front

of the cinder block wall

and laughs,

as if the squares

are funnier than hell

with the stories they tell

about what

they have seen.

Like the neighborhood watch

the old lady stares

from a curtain crack

with maybe only her fingers

visible around the cloth

hiding her face.

Like different coats

of paint sealing cracks

and pockmarks

on a cinder block wall,

the old man sits

as the old lady stares.