I could spot him from across the lawn

A little too peppy

Baseball cap, reflective vest on

I regretfully made eye contact

He was coming next to get me

I was just hanging out in the front yard with my dog, trying to relax

His neon orange vest stood on the other side of my wood rail fence

I knew there was no sense

I suppose he couldn’t read the sign on my door – that I am too poor – to buy anything, that I know who I’m voting for, that I’ve found Jesus

He started talking about the internet

I couldn’t help but interject

“I don’t want to waste your time, I don’t want to buy anything”

He kept pestering

I was bold, I didn’t back down

All while my dog was barking

And I never stood from my Adirondack chair

It was Friday afternoon and I didn’t care

I bid him well, didn’t forget to tell that Miss Lolly two doors down needs new internet

I walked by two hours later, he still hadn’t left

She had trapped him on her stoop

Or had he trapped her?

Lolly is a talker

The man’s orange vest and clipboard couldn’t stop her

She was happy for the friend

He, the cookies on the porch

At nightfall, his vest shined like a torch

Lolly finally had good company

Two people face to face, no screens

I sat behind mine, happy with my internet

Alone and happy, and wrote about the scene