Storm Sewer

In the silence of its yawn,

it swallowed fallen skate keys,

hopscotch tokens, a collection

helplessly out of reach,

floated in oil-slicked puddles,

shored by mud-reeking debris.

Now she struggles

to remember names—

those, too, out of reach—

but two brutal faces appear

on a burned memory.

The boys had been hiding

in the dank basement, turning

a child’s curiosity to shame.

Her innocence seeped under

door and flowed like rainwater,

hugging the curb, descending

underground and unnoticed.