The Stain

The faint echo of lonely footsteps
Pitter-patter, patter-pit
Slowly rising to a hollow crescendo
Ringing out as they fall
heavier
more rapidly
A shadow, a scuffle, a sharp intake of breath
Air rushing out in a high-pitched whine
Deep-throated grunts, some muffled mewing -
A dark stain
spreading across the pavement.
Leaking through cracks in the brick
Another day
it will fade away.

Dried-up evidence
rising in the scorching heat
A taint of humanity in the chemical smog
Spilling oil from beat-up cars
Fluid filth snaking
out of dumpsters
A motley assortment of human waste.

Putrid and stinking
It seeps over the cracks
Bleeding onto the pavement
Mixing with the residue of bygone violence
Inch
by painstaking
inch
It blots out the memories.
The occasional rush
Flooding only to dilute...
In a day, in a week, in a month, in a year
No one will remember what happened here.