Private Property by Karen Southall Watts

“You can’t sit there.”

He ignored the woman for a moment longer to watch a pollen-covered bee lumber out of a hibiscus flower.

“I was just admiring the garden, and truthfully my feet were tired.”

The woman took in his ratty jeans and boots sporting a duct tape patch before sighing. She wrinkled her nose as if she smelled something noxious.

“This is private property, well except for Saturdays. We do have a free lunch program that day. You can certainly come back then.”

He stood, and said “I see.”

Though he was clearly gathering himself up to leave, she nattered on.

“It’s just that people in the office are uncomfortable with strangers just hanging around. You understand. You can’t be too careful these days.”

He looked through the garden gates at the remnants of the anti-poverty rally. People were wandering home, with a few thoughtful souls picking up abandoned signs. They were carefully avoiding one side of the street and this church.

The woman had already stalked back to her office, but she was still watching him from the window. He picked up his dusty duffle bag, headed toward the gate, and Jesus wept.

Karen Southall Watts, is an educator, speaker, coach, and avid walker. Her works have been featured at Fairfield Scribes, Free Flash Fiction, The Drabble, Sledgehammer Lit, 101Words, Paragraph Planet, Soren Lit, Spillwords Press, and The Chamber Magazine. Karen is a three-time Pushcart nominee for poetry. Her poetry chapbook, Desire, Dreams and Dust was released in April of 2023.

www.instagram.com/thoughtsbykaren/