you might see
a safe quiet place
no speeding cars
neighbors take care
rows of flowers
home in the far off cul de sac
American dream.
these filters for eyes
bent from the beatings
maybe even before that
from just the formation of birth
see
a
dead
end.
I could stay
but I know better
not just for me
but everyone around
the vision persists
and would set me
to burning down
the whole neighborhood
just as a way to make sure I still had somewhere to go.