A Sestina On Six Words By Omar Sharif

Finally still at night is the bridge
Streetsweepers perform 25 MPH purification
Great steel brushes spin a dirty crescent
Half clean, half dirty, half true
Gravel, oil, and cigarette butts hide in the cracks of this table
The machines come sucking and spinning and all is well

Look over the railing, into the dark, into the well
The darkest secrets of men are beneath the bridge
Little hands smash peas under the table
Early bird garage sale, haggled purification
Three generations of unwanted vegetables speak true
Sneaky upturned hands press and wipe a green crescent

Blacktop shimmers by high yellow lights and the solo crescent
The urchin leans over the rail and the wind plucks his hat well
Currents of air and of the river whisper true
The hat rides gentle white caps away from the bridge
Sweat rings on John Deer foam gives needed purification
This river, an old man, arms behind his back, strolls under the table

Searching tires prowl infrequently across the tar rock table
Dingy autos displaying a lone palm under a crescent
Bumper stickers that represent the summer purification
The hatless urchin now waits in perpetual want of well
Sparks from streetsweeper brushes draw him always to the bridge
Stars shoot to the curb and the concrete remains true

The brushes quit their motor driven orbit, once faithful, once true
Streetsweepers bring their brushes up from the table
There are some things that can never be swept off this bridge
The urchin sleeps under headlines in the shape of a crescent
Dawn's traffic wishes he would sink like Peter, wishes him well
Offer up the hat, offer up the sleeper, to the old man for purification

Then the old men become one through chlorinated purification
Floating face up, gazing off into the universe of true
The worn out John Deer cap, green cap, in white caps, and all is well
All life depends on the level, the flow of the annual table
And now this one old man sleeps under headlights, still a crescent
Napping and walking and collecting the sin of men under the bridge