Cement City

Duck, Duck, Goose

The walking trail is worn with footprints

Bike bells ring, and children squeal

As they swing up, up

Run fast, chasing the ducks and each other through the wood chips and grass

Before falling

Laughing into their parents' arms

Safe and sound.

The playground is too small for me

So I walk along the lake's edge

Around the park

Exploring the parts cut off by overgrown plants

Sometimes I'd invite a friend

And we'll pretend to get lost

Share some memories

Try to make more meaningful ones under the night sky

Filling the empty space

That still follows us home

When we part ways at the entrance

And inevitably say "bye"

Or "see you tomorrow"

Never

"What's for dinner?"

I stand

Among the birds and flowers

With two fistfuls of daisies

Yet the air between my fingers

Are empty

My hands, too soft

To trick each other

Into thinking they're older and wiser than myself.