Once a safehaven
for kids with little else
a place to go
without the guns and gangs
and things

Ice crystals form from my breath
far from home in this foreign place
heroes square they call

Monday apathy
trying to fan
the embers that remain
from the weekends hot burn
everybody dancing

Red heat haze and destructive thunder
charred ghostly detritus remains
The wildfires hunger is

Balance is key so they say
But where is the balance?
and where is the love?
keys are pretty

Keen cold fire sting
the dagger of deceit
often a prelude
to a symphony
of other
uglier
wounds

Within 48 hours,
she decided I was her answer
claimed me as her own
but I'd only passed

How do we ever find our way
through tricksters
and manipulators
conjurers and thieves
beggars of

Put them and their ways
into little boxes
be judge and jury please
compulsion driving
to

Who are you
where have you been
what do you see
are you the hands you shake
the smiles you