Lonely Man

By: Alison Stephens

A lonely man sits on the side of the road

He sings a song,

La, la, la.

He stops, silence.

Red, green, yellow, red, green, yellow

The light keeps turning

Over and over

But no one is in sight, besides the lonely man

Abandoned buildings, collapsed houses

No one is there, but the lonely man.

The light keeps going, going, going

The lonely man sits, waits

Waiting for something, anything

A person, a sign, just waiting

Can he do something?

Yes? No? Who’s to decide?

Him, you, me?

Him, only he can decide

And while he’s waiting

The lights keep turning

Time keeps turning

And he’s just sitting,

Waiting, wasting his life, wasting his time



A lonely man sits on the side of the road

He sings a song,

La, la, la.

He stops, silence.

The lights are still turning

But this time as he watches

He’s not waiting

He’s not waiting for a person, or a sign

He’s looking

He’s not wasting his life, his time

He’s living.



A lonely man sat by the side of the road.

That lonely man has moved on.