The walk to the store

spurs no birds to tweeting, 

nor lively conversation. 

Clouds, unremarkably grey-white, 

blocking the midday or evening sun.

Neither hot nor cold, 

and somewhere between wet and dry.

 

The loudest sounds are the soft pad

of my old sneakers upon concrete, 

unchanging, steady, and relentlessly stable. 

 

So my eyes pan 

downward from the low clouds, 

to the reaching arms of the leaveless trees.

Sounds build themselves to fruition; 

the keening of the kettle’s whistle, 

tinnitus screaming in my ears, 

the cacophony of trumpets that 

fanfares into trumpets, 

a ruckus, 

uncountable nails on the chalkboards, 

the sudden utterances of the squawking crows, 

the eye-closing, flinching feedback squeal

of the stage microphones,

and unfortunately, 

sadly, 

they cease.

 

As they stop, 

the air’s aroma brings 

the nostalgia of time 

like fall’s cool air. 

Kicking at air, 

I find no leaves to alleviate

the monotony of the 

black asphalt.

 

One more foot flung

at the concrete, and I miss

slipping into the ground, 

the thickness of its quicksand

the buildings rising and bending towards 

each other, like 

a fish-eye lens gone wrong, 

beyond the trees to peer 

in my direction.

The trees link arms, 

sprouting leaves like

the midspring months, 

covering the sun.

Streetlights and lamps, 

stretch away from me 

beneath my feet as 

abyssal caverns drop me 

straight down onto

 

The pavement where

my sneakers tread. 

 

Now a thrum fills my ears; I duck as the

Piercing shrieks laser cannons 

light the sky from iron pancakes 

zipping across blue backdrop

Metals clash as swords 

swing in the hands of iron gauntlets

Candy-colored dragons roar

spitting fireballs

Cannons of stone boom, 

plastic wands spit green fire.

Flashes of bright refract off my retinas. 

But, of course,

the burn of imaginary lightning holds no 

ground in

the eyes of the real world.

 

Now I sigh, 

because I’m here.

So to excitement I say my goodbye, 

And the storefront’s neon grin gives me a worn leer.