The long furlough (edit 1)

[Leaf]

Three times daily
for over a year
Mick has plodded
   up
then
   down
the drive.

One afternoon last December
he tried to plod
   up
the drive
   all the way to the bus stop --

only to find
his feet took him
   down
the drive
again.

"It's a shame,"
   he said.
"I was looking forward to the bus."

Three times daily
for over a year
Mick has plodded
   up
then
   down
the drive.

One afternoon last December
he tried plodding
   up
the drive
   and all the way to the bus stop

only to find 
his feet took him
   down
the drive
again.

"It's a shame.
I was looking forward to the bus,"
   he said.