Boy

CATEGORY

life

Sitting on porch stoop
looking up at dim yellow
street lights

Young girls pig tails
sway in beat to
double dutch rope
jumps on cobble stone
streets

From blocks a far
ringing of bell from bomb
pop truck strikes attention

Visions of chocolate malt crunch
sweetness melts on
awaiting tongue

Grandma screams from kitchen
close my screen door! Angered by
in and out family traffic

Night game of hide and seek
gather hood children on tattered
grass lots our playground

Game abruptly stops, gun shots
heard across alley way 
silence laughter

Run for safety is game
of life now, bullets fired 
have no name

Summer night humidity make
skin sweat, thrust of water from
opened fire hydrants 
cool body

Crickets blissful tune give
credence that evening 
is late

Home time now
anticipation of Creature Feature
and Three Stooges 
reruns air soon

Popcorn cooked in skillet
on stove top is snack
for the night

Eyes grow heavy
body spent from
adventurous day
partaken

Auntie makes pallet on
floor between crowded bunk
beds in room

Staring into steel blade 
fan, warm air circulate 
among bodies peaceful 
we rest

Eyes close dreaming
of a better tomorrow

RonnieL