By STEVEN T. MOORE

American teens 
sticky beach
beneath their toes
gossip 
laugh
drink beer
seagulls scream 
jump and sing
it’s springtime
sun sparkling
this afternoon

faraway 
a young girl 
wearing yellow 
lies frozen
next to a half
eaten building
the grass is gray
trees have lost
their leaves 
a lone arm 
dangles

down the street
a leg leans 
against wooden 
fence, a hand 
rests nearby  
charred boy 
still on bike 
no screaming 
train in sight 
vacant homes 
hollow schools 
blinking streetlights

no birds at all
moon and stars
have gone silent 

Dr. Steven T. Moore is a professor in the Department of Language and Literature and director of the McNair Scholars Program at Abilene Christian University