The short way home

We took the short way home

The one with the blank concrete barriers

The zooming traffic

Blowing the paper cups in the gutter.

Trudging through the gritty grass

Keeping away from the barking dog

Gnawing at the wire fence as it would love to gnaw on our legs

Wishing for the energy to shove a pushchair through the long grass of the park.

Under the shady trees and

Past the dangling swings.

But the park is where he would wait for us.

So,

We took the short way home.

Past the storefronts boarded up except the

Kebab shop in the distance, always hopefully open

Its jaunty neon sign missing the final B

Reminding us of hunger despite

The flies crowding the skewers of meat

But there’s no time now

We must talk ourselves through step by step

Will we get home before he realises?

Snatch the passports from their hiding place?

The secret stash of coins?

Will they jingle and crash?

The baby whimpers and is soothed

by a shiny red lollipop

held out by the kebab shop man

Kindness radiating from his sweaty face

A moment of bright sweetness against the gritty concrete.

We remember when things were better.

Shoving the brittle wheels through the last stretch of gravel

With a new energy.

We took the short way home.