6 word Memoirs: Hillside HS

Bench: Recycled Beam

Homework Club

Male Figure

Mobile Garden Cart

Blodgett in the Summer

People Started Shooting Each Other

I used to live there
in that blue house on the corner
everyday I walk passed it and I wonder
who's living there now
I seen them
coming and going
stopping and shouting
I seen them hanging out windows and sitting on the roof
they see me
they scowl
But they don't know who I am

I remember this one guy
always leaning against the wall
always smoking
always smiling
he smiled at me once
but I kept my head down

One day I walk by the house and no one's there
not even that one guy
I hear from a boy in school that he heard gunshots the night before
I think they all ran away he says
good I say
thats what I did

glad to be home

as the sun sets over the warehouses
and the leaves turn up their silver bellies in the light breeze
a boy stands by small fountain
small drops rain down like so many beads of gold

the gentle cry of a creaky swing set
the violent rhythm of the basketball courts
the patter of small feet on playground mulch
mothers wait in the shade
gossiping
i reach my stride

hey yo
hey you
look at 'dis

the rush of the rubber against my feet and hands
the wind in my ears as i rise for the shot
for split second
i feel what it's like to leave the earth
and my home
behind
we touch back down at the same time
me and the ball
as the sun sets over the warehouses
i know at least one of us is glad to be home