Above Baltimore’s Inner Harbor

  Shaded by a tree in summer green

   I sit on a low bench facing out to

   a row of volleyball courts below Federal Hill

   and a collar of pavement beyond, filled with

   walkers and joggers, that rings the spiffily

   refurbished and tourist-ready Inner Harbor.

  Baltimore is a historic city. But here today

  it wants to live in the present, draw visitors,

  offer water taxis and tour boats, invite scenic

  excursions and provide accommodations for

  all the needs and desires of the throng

  who have come to walk about this August day.

  Below, at the volleyball nets the players are 

  raucous, quick to dive for a save or cheer a score.

  Along the walk, infants in strollers doze under shade.

 Their sun-struck parents are content to amble unless forced

  to deal with the running and antics of bigger children.

  On the hill, a sudden breeze stirs the leaves above me.

   Far off, birds shotgun up.

   They see the future.