66900
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
