there are gaps in the sidewalk every few meters
where each block of concrete ends
like the markings on a clock, appearing after every few strides you
take.
there are cracks too, not like clock-face-markings
but random, sometimes covering the width of the pavement
sometimes just a bolt of lightning spreading from the bottom right
corner to the upper left
sometimes filled with yellow leaves
like the sidewalk was a piece of kintsugi
but it reminds me of something else.
when i first pulled a’s panties down
i found silver marks on her thighs
silver on brown
and i called them tiger stripes
lightning bolts
and i would caress them and kiss them because they were beautiful,
jagged and zig-zagging through her brownness.
today as i walk to air my head out
i watch the sidewalk, my head down
and it reminds me of that day.\