6 PM at the park
It is someone’s child there on that swing
I would address as, “Daughter.”
Old men watch the sparse grass
gather around their hovering toes.
Crows wheel into a scuffle of branches,
and are seen no more. Even the wind
gathers sand to fling at joggers’ eyes
but drops it listlessly. Step by careful step,
I walk up to the swing. Mosquitoes dart
at the space above me. I slap one
on my cheek. The child stops, looks up.
I kneel and scrape the dead bug off;
the splat of blood, a hush in the park.
A siren cries outside. She says, “Hello.”
(NOTE: After a day of playing Dragon Age 2, I’d pretty much given up on writing anything. Somehow this happened. May have had something to do with that quest they have where this guy goes around claiming he was possessed by demons to carve up elf children. Or not.)
April 10th, 2011 at 8:51 am
you remind me of a playground experience in summer time.
well delivered sentiment.
you rock.