Cracked concrete
wasteland
littered with sand, gravel, and
the driest salt.

Remnants of human past
within
the brown, dead grass.
Owners gone, but they remain.

Cups and bags blown by wind.
Hats and gloves out cold.
Sunglasses cracked. Their future–dim.
Lost keys, coins, purpose.

Trees grow saggy
and bare.
What’s keeping them there,
only roots.

“Live better,”
they said
but
look at the mess.

A shining star
left there to rot.
Not the apocalypse,

it’s a Walmart parking lot.

About the Author:

Isaiah Janisch is a poet and artist from Evansville, WI. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English-Creative Writing from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. His work has been published in literary journals, like Digging Through the Fat and The Muse, and has been displayed at the Arts + Literature Laboratory in Madison, WI. Janisch has also worked as an editor for the Rock River Review literary journal and taught poetry class to middle and high school students. To mix his love of poetry and visual arts, he founded the Instagram page @plaza.of.poetry–a collection of poems and digital art that explores liminality and cultural transition.