the grass nearby and wander into the streets heading back toward home along a different route. This was a good time, a time to press one’s toes deep into the squishy, sun-softened tar-filled cracks and know that - while the cooler evening was coming, the sun was still hiding in places where only the most inquisitive would find it and be rewarded.
Eventually, red skinned and worn out from the work of an adventurous day the boy would arrive home; home to mum; home to sisters and supper; home to questions of what the day held and short, grunt-like answers of one who would prefer to keep the memories to himself.
Once the dark finally took hold and bed was no longer to be avoided the boy and his memories would cover up. As night held sway and the shadows of the creaky house took over the memories became small films to be played again and again in the theatre of his mind. Memories as distractions from the nightmares bound to come until the rescuing sun rose again to banish it all and new memories could be made.
Peter Cantelon is a Canadian writer who has been writing continuously for nearly 30 years. Cantelon’s influences have been many and diverse including but not limited to Margaret Atwood, Irving Layton, Sappho, Charles Buckowski, Edgar Allan Poe, John Donne, and more recently international poets such as Japanese poet Kenji Miyazawa and Persian poet Forough Farrokhzad. His writing has been published in a number of magazines and reputable e-zines including Alliance Life magazine, Poetry Scotland, the award winning Lakeview International Journal of Literature and Arts.