Old Neighborhood

I'm walking around the old neighborhood
I never left

the run-down house
begs me to come in

I see it's horrible death
and say maybe next time

the dying chinaberry tree
invites me to climb

I tell it
I don't want to fall

the teenage girl next door
I used to lust for

comes to the screen door
lures me with her  thighs

full of cellulite and wrinkled now
I pretend I don't see her

all the old neighbors
gather in the middle of the street

smile and nod and wave
they want a hug

I leave in a hurry
because the past

can make you sick
when it comes back

just slightly
out of snyc