reminiscence

someday we won't remember this—

no one will, not the dirt or stars,
not the dust scattered when a sun
dies and the universe swallows its birth

not the men who wasted lives
proving theories long debunked or
the whores leaning in doorways to fuck
soldiers who won't come home

and no one will remember the dog
hit on route sixty-three, the first guts
i saw glistening in summer heat

just as no one remembers i was the kid
they called to crack open the fire hydrant
because no one else could and they

shrieked, soaked in water no one remembers,
soaked in water that could have saved lives,

water circling into the sewer,
waste no one
remembers.