Sidewalking

A little slice of the city.

The night's sidewalk sits along

Broken streets, strewn with 

Tempered glass, and streetlights

blinking on and off with the vagaries of wind.

Pop! Pop! Pop! rings out

Echoes off crumbling walls

Fireworks or gunshots, no matter,

The sounds are distant

And in keeping with the atmosphere.

The sidewalk rises and falls

Like a roller coaster in the making

Or the surf whipping up just before a storm

Rolling to an abrupt stop at the corner

Where it's fingers spread out in two directions.

Each slips away before darkened houses

The odd light blinks on and off

Saying its hellos and warnings

While each lone pedestrian stumbles by

Head down, hands in pockets, shoulders slumped

Forward to show what they don't see and aren't doing.

The houses sit closely together 

Though lonely and isolated

Afraid of the resounding distant sirens

Presaging the future and calling

Memories buried in shallow graves yet not dead.

Author's Note

Please offer any suggestions or comments you choose.