The monotonous bus bumbles along and i am it’s monotonous prisoner.
Heater is broken today. hands in my pockets, breath like cigarette smoke i lean my head against the
Ember tinted window and look out.
Ramshackle school buildings and desolate ghost-town playgrounds
Everything is so dead in this burn-out city, i say. the bus lumbers around the corner, and i see graffiti:
“I had almost run out of breath by the time i caught up to freedom”
Somebody made it out, i think, smiling to myself. i get off at the next stop and walk.
Hidden behind a wrought-iron fence is the church i was told to enter in order to do my volunteer work.
Opening the big wooden doors, i walk in to see dozens of children with hungry smiles. i
Play with them, games i played when i was young. children are universal. it’s beautiful.
Eventually the games end and i coax them into doing their homework, it takes a little bribery, and
Inside my head i wonder if i am even making a difference.
People always say there’s no hope for these kids. they’re a lost cause, too far behind in school, etc. but
Reality is more real to them, if you ask me. they have
Opened my eyes to the truths that surround us, to the imperfection of ignorant suburban streets.
Maybe it was someone like me, an outsider, who scribbled that graffiti on the wall.
“I had almost run out of breath by the time i caught up to freedom.”
Salvation found me through the eyes of these forgotten children, in this mucky gutter city, i realized.
Evening crawls into sleepy sky and i wave goodbye to each kid as i board the bus to ride home.