your footprints stain the sand,
etching a sole outline of filth and dirt
that mock your name.
they say you’ve gone missing.
but i know the truth:
what’s missing is gone.
your smile is plastered on walls,
each painted the color of your skin,
they must collapse at the sight of you.
they’ve say you’ve gone missing.
i say you’ve gone.
there used to be a difference but now i can’t be sure.
footprints fading from the sand,
and they wash away with the tides,
slowly then all at once. again, again, and again.