Page 18 - Contrast1987v29
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Germantown A venue
Strolling the bumpy streets,
I catch the stares of hollow eyes with pleading looks,
they hold out a hand, hoping for a quarter
to live one day longer.
As the blazing sun beats down on my face,
I shudder and feel a chill
and walking swiftly I can't help but turn and glare
at the dark dirty faces
blubbering words.
Men and women mumbling of memories lost.
Now hurrying, making sure
of not losing Count of the cracks in the sidewalk,
it's their turn to stare,
thinking how cold I am to them:
colder than the ground they sit on.
I walk past them -- like crumbling buildings.
And with half-shut eyes, I block out the sun
as I turn and walk away.
Sara M. Gallagher' 89
Awakening
What woke me up
that morning I don't know ..
I was not the first downsteits.
Open doors betrayed empty rooms,
and everything stood
in uneasy quiet.
Her room seemed emptier
than the rest,
and I stopped to see it
for the first time
in this different
early light.
And then I went downstairs
with the others.
Kirk Van Nostrand' 88
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