outsiders & gatekeepers
I live where most people
dare not go
believing it’s a dangerous place
with guns & drugs
and sex for sale
no matter the time of day
burrowed deep underground
I see flashes of light coming through
casement windows
turning on colorful prisms
one or two or sometimes
three times per day
from my viewpoint
I hear nothing but
peacefulness pounding on the concrete
surefire sunflowers
sprouting between the cracks
all kinds of wild animals
are critical to the neighborhood
cohabiting with humans
relentlessly protecting them
from the unnecessary evils
marching up & down the chalk line
february two thousand twenty-one
copyright j matthew waters
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