Crossing the Street in Laguna Beach

Thank you for not killing me in the metal-grilled cross-hairs

of your monstrous SUV as I crossed the street

cautiously, in full view, in daylight, in the crosswalk

where I thought I had a lawful right to be

and indeed once did in a different, slower world

when I could meander and even take a peek upward

at a trail of pelicans

or outward at a glorious pod of dolphins,

but now I must deal with the likes of you

as you fight for space, wrecking the world

with anger

and the awful weight of your toys.

The author, a teacher at the Gifted Students Academy at UC Irvine, lives in Laguna Beach.

Read more: Opinion poetry by Times readers