Buried Memories

The graveyard of my childhood lay
Just beyond the schoolyard’s crippled gate

It took a morning’s march,
Sharing mother-daughter secrets
Fearless, we’d pick one neglected stone
To sit near in the sun
Fine clay dust clinging yellow to bare feet

We sought the oldest date,
The sweetest words—none but we two
Honoring faded bones,
Ghosts who buried them
Long wandering greener lawns

One day monsters rumbled in
Pulling stones like rotted teeth,
I gazed through classroom panes,
Imagining uncertain souls
Evaporate to morning mist

Now interred beneath trimmed turf,
Cemented into skateboard trails
Just beyond the schoolyard’s crippled gate