Sidewalk

ByCarma Spence

sidewalkWritten in 1983.

I stretch for endless miles.
My brethren stretch out beside me.
I have many visitors.
Yet I am always alone.

Bubble gum and cigarette butts on my belly,
Dirt on my back,
I lie and watch the creatures
who forever traverse my stomach.

The old lady who pushes a cart
Cares about how I am kept.
The group of tough kids throw
cans and drop the cola she cleans up.

Men are paid to care for me,
yet they know nothing of how I feel.
The upright creatures are oblivious,
the four-legged creatures, unaware.

Why do they take such care of me
if they know and care so little?
My name is used in their language,
yet they ignore me.

They help me reproduce and expand.
They clean and dirty me too.
If I am so important,
Why aren’t they concerned with me,
     The Sidewalk?

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