Silent owls watch
as midnight fades from black
and all the drunks squint their eyes
and hastily scatter off the streets
Silent eyes are looking
as he sneaks out of the room
and starts the car
and waits to turn the lights on until he’s
down the block
Silent lights illuminate
as the black streets rise to a color of dark gray
early workers close their eyes as their cars
drive them through the ghostly highways
“windows down and snooze”
Silent ghosts are listening
to the dreary morning radio
droning on about the upcoming day
the first day of school for children
“the weather is very weather today”
Silent children laugh
as they walk to the bus stop
lunchboxes clenched in their tiny fists
thanking god for moms who pack gourmet lunches
(today it’s peanut butter and jelly
with fruit snacks on the side)
And silent gods aren’t caring
as one child crosses the road
and the tired driver’s eyes close
and the ghosts gasp
and the owls fly away
and the blaring lights travel
down the stained red road
This poem was written in 2014, originally as an assignment for a creative writing class. "The Stained Red Road" was then published in the Fall 2015 issue of Reconstructed, Governors State University's journal of arts and literature.