life lessons learned
on playgrounds
the asphalt plains
of poverty

school bells
echo the distance
dreams
remain undeciphered

candyman waits
on the corner
crystal visions
offered free

love made
on dirty mattresses
exchanged
for blissful emptiness

babies cry
for inheritance
blood burns
at birth

sirens whine through streets
unheard
pain flows
in the cracks

curtains drawn tight
to shelter
chalk lines live
on asphalt

but

the swing is empty...

© Karli Shanklin. All rights reserved!