I was just walking, see.

[lydy]

       Homecoming

This year, it began with cacaphony.
The trumpets stood on the steps,
While the stranger brass, horns and trombones
Played around the corner under an overhang .
The flutes sat underneath an awning,
Drowned by the trumpets.
But even when the air was clear,
They were silent almost before I walked past.

The trumpets rang down the long green mall,
Taking no prisoners and giving no quarter,
But the bugles, under arching trees,
Played with the trumpets --
at a different tempo, and possibly a different tune.

And yes, there was a student sleeping under a tree
While it continued to drizzle.