Mile 2

Broken bottles and

chicory flowers in the

harsh morning sunlight

An accidental

memorial bouquet for

this shattered roadside

An untended stretch

of lonely city sidewalk

I traverse with haste

Fading  zoo murals

weather off the concrete of

a silent playground

Vacant windows of

a crumbling convenience store

reflect the traffic

And I run past them

stretching my stride to hurdle

the cracking curbs