i wasn’t planning on spending so long in town

the asphalt was like a river.
bear with me: in the heat and on its sides
a large amount of tar had been pushed to the sidewalks
forming something like river banks.

there were several children
and they were all spoiled
in ways that reminded you of milk
and when you thought about them
you wanted to use the expression
"high time"
to the fullest extent allowed by law

and down the street was where we buried everything
or where everything was buried,

and just past that
was the sort of apartment complex
where all the doors had windows
installed.