Early Sunday Morning

(inspired by a 1930 painting by Edward Hopper)
By Barry Bayon

Long shadows play across the sidewalk this early morning.
The street is deserted, the shops are shut.
The reddish granite buildings with the green storefronts,
Are silent as if asleep.

No one is waiting to get in,
Except for a hopeful cat.
No hair will be cut today,
And the barber’s pole will not turn.

Soon the newspaper store will open,
And people will buy their paper
Fat with comics, advertisements,
And stories of baseball heroes.

A block away the cafe is already serving,
And people will sip coffee and
Rustle their newspapers,
And comment on the state of the economy.

Some of the stores may not open again,
As the Depression takes hold,
And people look for work,
And there is none.

Later in the day,
The water department may open the fire hydrant,
And children will come and play in the spray,
And life will return to the street as people watch and smile and remember.

The poem is an Ekphrasis form of poetry in that it was in response to the viewing of a piece of art. Specifically, Edward Hopper’s 1930 painting ”Early Sunday Morning”. Hopper gives the viewer rich color tones in human settings, often buildings with people going with their lives.

Barry Bayon

Barry Bayon is a deacon at Central Church. He lives in North Kingstown, R..I. with his wife, Barbara. He teaches in the Management Dept. at Bryant University. His interest in poetry started with his aunt who had several books of her poems published.