Breakfast on the Downspout

Waking up on that chilly metal utility box, my molded knees needed a quick warm-up drill. I shimmied down the rusty conduit and dropped onto the flanged rim of an aluminum rainwater downspout. Wedged in the corrugated seam was a crisp, dried sycamore leaf and a flattened copper penny. Perfect makeshift perch. I hauled the heavy coin over the crimped edge, using it to pin the leaf flat against a morning gust that nearly flipped me into the brickwork. Stuck the landing on one knee, leaned back against the cool galvanized metal, and took in the bustling morning street at the mouth of the alley. Ground sector: alive and waking up.