past are the years
within four walls
they say something
through their
scratches and dents
marks of passages
as people walked by
though all may
be unseen
people have passed
or covered
for new styles
ways of living
though each season
with waves of temperature
swelling and
constricting
the fibrous material
that holds
each day’s tales
contributing to
several others
along the block
creating communities
oral and unspoken
history has given
from one person
to the next
all within the walls
of the buildings
on the block

-Jennie Nawrocki