The Providence Bruins won the AHL Minor League Championship & 3 days later the city popped in celebration by throwing one of those pseudo modern pseudo ticker tape parades, I think it was the first they won in 20 years & they actually threw paper from the buildings
mostly shredded sensitive documents
but they still threw paper
paper - from the few office windows that still opened - paper - from balconies � paper - from lower rooftops thrown to the lunch emptied tenants below
shredded paper documents mixed with multi colored confetti: red circles - yellow squares - blue rectangles - purple dots - a polka dotted sky floating to the 40 deep crowd curious lookers along Exchange Street casual summer attired workers children parents in team jerseys
clumps of confidentiality falling feather spaghetti falling faster then the rest
bombing the roofs of the parade cars the marching bands shriners middle June high schoolers called up from reserve
over the helmets of motorcycle escorts inside Chrysler convertibles alternating tan - green - blue � white carrying the team & their girlfriends wives two each one by one a red convertible ferrying Buddy the Mayor in dark suit trying to stand, wave, & not fall & hit the street
confetti falling onto police cruiser siren wale what's his name - the star riding atop a black corvette confetti falling over Company Ladder No 454 fire engine red Bruins mascot in the bucket - A bear in the bucket of a fire engine ladder truck with pointless wheeled trolleys - windows tinted - following behind to the anchors of more cruisers to the parade rolling away to the ground sloshing aside airy snow blowing by crowd filling streets.
Then the hockey team was gone�
�crowd dispersing - wiping paper from shirts - hair - pocket books - shirt pockets to no one remaining but a janitor with a blow vac muttering "The parade is over, the mess remains."
& hearing this, a corner of the street tried not to weep
it held in a silent shudder - that feeling - high in the chest
no confetti has fallen on it no feet watched from it a wall of businessmen mostly blocked it's view but what it did see as it looked up to the clouds of dead trees, trees that would never be recycled again�
listened to the jelly rolls�
the sirens the horn wails�
were memories of 55 years before when a real ticker tape parade marched through when they still had ticker tapes to throw the marchers were army bands the crowds � millions the paraders - solders - his uncles - great uncles half of which came home.
Then - even the janitor was gone, replaced by a few pedestrians anonymous the street muttered "the parades are over, the mess remains"
an Ice Cream truck rolled through sounding the loneliest music he'd ever heard, he looked to the sky & began to cry a little quieter than you�d expect�
most people would have sworn it was just the rain.
