Mulberry Street

I'm beginning to believe that

no one will ever know me

as intimately

as that stretch of Mulberry Street

that runs between

Pike and Harrison

The way the sidewalk gives way to

years of neglect

and the bushes over take

the barren alley between

the Moose Lodge

-or what used to be, any way-

and the Colwell's backyard

-or... what used to be anyway-

The nights shroud in the darkest dark

perfect for midnight games of hide n seek

and kissing the neighbor boys

and sneaking away from home

Freshly paved roads

for belly races on our longboards

tromping barefoot through the flash floods

No one will know the taste of my blood

or the weight of my tears

quite like that little white house on

Mulberry Street

No one will know the darkness

welling inside of me quite like

that old rickety porch swing that held me

The bush in the hollow of the porch

has heard my deepest regrets

and my sweetest songs

and my daily qualms about

religion

friendship

betrayal

will my father kill us

will he kill himself

am I going to kill myself

I hope my siblings will be okay

I hope they won’t have to talk to this bush

Dead center on Mulberry

between Pike and Harrison

The longest i’ve ever felt at home

Reviews

[willweb]

WOW!! That was very good, I loved the feeling of an area, a section of street knowing you and then that porch, your confidant and the bush...wow, it got dark quickly here. I really liked this poem. It is many things wrapped into one and it is amazing. Bravo