50 People - 41 Poem by Raj Dronamraju

41

Why are you on the streets at this hour?
After your parents have gone to bed
For them, time has speeded up while they have slowed down
For them, time has increasing value

You chase friends and run around without much thought
For you, time is not even a consideration
My being will go on forever
And the rocks we threw at the neighbor's house come from a place where youth has yet to acknowledge consequence

And how you poured gasoline into the water dish of the neighbor's cat and how your father took you back to their house for a scolding
And how the same day you went and played for hours
As if nothing had happened to you
As if nothing would ever happen to you