side by side
with their growing bodies
stretched out
across the cracked concrete

watching the billboards
tatter and fade

already talking about
better days

when their parents
still slept
in the same bed

when god
was still
a man in the sky

when they didn’t
have to fall asleep
to dream

Heather Minette earned her M.A. in Literature at the University of Houston–Clear Lake and is the author of Rooftops and Other Poems (Blue Hour Press, 2013). Her work has been featured on Freshly Pressed and nominated for the Pushcart Prize. More of her writing is available to view at https://heatherminette.com.