Stray

Childhood lost
in an instant
of unforseen danger.
It wasn’t quite ten o’clock
when the sharp
piercing thunder
echoed
from across the street.
An evening run
to the local Seven-Eleven
went sideways,
horribly wrong.

Without the chance
of realization,
the body dropped
to the broken sidewalk,
heavy,
in slow motion,
with the low thud
of a falling bag
of maize.

Dark crimson
liquid death,
spread
as a hungry fire
feeling it’s way
to nourish itself
it grew,
saturating
concrete,
trash,
and soil.

Flashing blue
Screaming red
Reflecting lights
on trees
and onlookers…
Where vacant eyes
no longer stare,
unaware
that time itself
has stopped.
No more breath
or the heartbeat
of a child,
sent
to purchase
a gallon of milk
for the next
morning’s
breakfast
cereal.

*(matthew bowers)* ~93
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Photograph of Lincoln Park,
Los Angeles California
March 17, 2021
By: matthew bowers