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Rated: 13+ · Poetry · Emotional · #1996509
Children walk home from school, but not all their homes are the same.
One by one we walk down the lane
         Jane and John turn left at the corner
         Scamper past the white picket fence and leap into the open arms of their parents
One by one we walk down the lane
         Mary and Beth turn left at the corner
         Flop onto the freshly mowed lawn and laugh as their parents scoop them up
One by one we walk down the lane
         My brother and I turn right at the corner
         After a block the pavement ends
                   We stick to the side of the road
                   Even though his shoes are getting muddy
                             I make my brother walk on the dirt side
                             It's safer
                                       The wind picks up
                                       My frizzy hair two days unwashed
                                                 Flusters behind me
                                                 My brother clutches my arm
                                                           He still thinks the wind can carry him away
                                                           I used to think that but it never did
                                                                     My feet firmly planted on the road
                                                                     I lead my brother home
                                                                               The wind resists, pushing us back
                                                                               Warning us away
                                                                                         But where else have we to go?
         I hear shouting before we enter the alley
         My brother flinches but I lead him on
                   wailing
                             cursing
                                       mocking
                                                 smashing
                                                           I feel him quiver against me

                                                                                         We skip the splintering step

                                                                     the
                                                                     door
                                                                     stretches
                                                                     above
                                                                     me

         tall                              and                              ominous                              and                              uninviting
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