Breadcrumb #428
ANDREW KNOTT
The streets are full of children missing
teeth and teething all over—
sharp bits emerging
from every corner, poking
and slowly slicing
the gumline of their minds.
Summertime has dappled them,
and the weight of the stones
(in their hands and in their pockets)
creates a flux in the field.
The town is equally sunspotted.
Wind blows through a broken window
And whistles.
The children whistle
as they speak. Every tinkling of glass,
every throaty clang of a light pole
is an echo
Of a farm shut down,
boarded up,
machines halted and gone to seed.
The chimes taken off the front porch
and sold.
There is so much space
in every direction.
Desire lines of highway
cross-cutting the original
sidewalks of the country.
Missing it makes you rambunctious.
The children stomp their feet.