by Debbie Okun Hill
c2010
All Rights Reserved
Standing alone, near wooden post
ostracized from adult crowd
young male teen
fidgets, kicks a pebble
outside rural train station
loose gravel crunching
beneath his feet
hot sun searing his cheeks
quick snap-pop, click of teeth
his tongue twirling
juicy piece of bubble gum
grape flavour released
ball cap turned backwards
skateboard shoes untied
In this afternoon game of waiting
he loses valuable playtime
like rolling childhood marbles
on his stepfather’s whittle wasting hours
wood-chipped seconds suspended
locomotion slow
each yellow dandelion
turning grey between thin cracks
slight breeze unraveling
unnourished seeds of his mind
wandering, blown away
when no one picks him up
leaves him feeling small
reminiscent of his days
hiding as an abused toddler
curled beneath a bench
coiled, thick wad, stale
like his gum—stuck
with no place to go
Debbie Okun Hill is an executive member of The Ontario Poetry Society and an associate member of The League of Canadian Poets. Since the fall 2004 over 150 of her poems have been published in over 60 publications/e-zines including Other Voices, Quills Canadian Poetry Magazine and Ascent Aspirations anthologies. Her first chapbook Swaddled in Comet Dust: A Collection of Award-winning Poems was published by Beret Days Press in 2008.