Night Terror

Rough black tar scraping flesh of ignorant shoulders
uncovered by leather jackets or torn dirty sweatshirts
Trees curling around the secret paradise like guards
in a state prison, unwanted chills creeping in like
sharks during a feeding frenzey.
In the houses surrounding the park, the shades drawn
and minimum light glows through as another lamppost
goes out in a poor neighborhood.
A scream from one direction alerts one of the teenagers
who shivered in the chill air, her nervous movements
causing the other three boys to stir. Twisting arms
around waists and huddling close, the passing towards
familiar territory was like a dream itself.
Picturesque, another youth would have told them
if they were not frightened at the nearing midnight hour.
Tighter the arms circled, and comforting thoughts and
whispers were left in the wind to the bats and the coniving
trees,while feet thundered against breaking sidewalks and loose gravel
to find a way back home.