Morning Route Check

Stepped down from the stoop into the early quiet of the block. The street was still stretching awake. Halfway down the pavement, a low metal wire magazine rack leaned beside a shuttered corner kiosk. Good elevation. I gripped the wire frame with both hands, tested the sway, and hauled myself up to the second rung. Folded print editions of morning papers were stacked in neat bundles bound with stiff yellow twine. I sat on the ledge of the rack, back braced against a stack of newsprint, taking in the empty crosswalk and the delivery van idling two doors down. Fresh ink smell, clear street grid. A solid post to map out the morning flow.