Overheard

I see them all walking down
the sidewalk with their faces
pointed directly at the ground.
Their headphones full of sound
that cancels out all of the ordinary
noises that remind them where they are.

The weeds in the cracked pavement
get crushed by cars that circle
like the planets simply looking
for a place they can belong.
The fear is strong and it is meant
to be a statue standing over us
with eyes that you can’t help
but stare back into.

Ice coated stone in the shape
of something real like the pictures
in the storybooks where everything
is scary, until you learn the lessons
buried in the terror.
The prayers overheard at the base
of the structure echo out
into the whispers of the world,
where they are ignored until
there’s nothing else to mock.