________  ________  ________
   2025-04-12                                   /        \/        \/    /   \
                                               /       __/         /_       _/
   broken sidewalks past empty lots           /        _/         /         /
   saltbush                                   \_______/_\___/____/\___/____/_
   red sand and a small gate                    /        \/        \/    /   \
   a concrete stormdrain littered with         /        _/         /_       _/
      broken glass                            /-        /        _/         /
   a toy car with a scratched,                \________/\________/\___/____/
      black windscreen
   a chain-link fence and a redback spider
   tar made soft by the summer
      and the smell of chlorine
   asphalt
   a low stone wall and a dry bamboo garden
   a loose tooth
   the taste of blood
   a rusting truck in an old carpark
   abandoned barracks and spent shells
   the heat of the sun
   and the smell of an approaching storm

   I published  this on my blog a little over 20 years ago,  reading it now it
took me off guard  because  I was  sure I didn't  have the  courage  to  share
something like this when I was that young.



EOF