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This writing was accepted for publication in the 108 page perfect-bound ISSN#/ ISBN# issue/book “Choices” cc&d, v313 (the September 2021 issue) Order the 6"x9" paperback book:

Order this writing in the book The World Outside the cc&d Sep.-Dec. 2021 magazine issues collection book		get the 424 page Sep.-Dec. 2021 cc&d magazine 6" x 9" ISBN# paperback book:

Bitter Playgrounds

Retta Lewis

The future is never something you can predict,
And that summer,
The view was poised to change dramatically,
As she took her last look—
The moment would require her full attention.

She couldn’t have known it then,
But it would be the start of her journey out.

She would go through many changes,
And drop pieces along the way—
The very air would seem to swallow her,
And even time, itself, stop.

On her way to the front of the line
Of the people’s new agreement,
The quiet rooms of school girls
Evolved into something wild.

There were no words to describe
The unfolding of her day.

She unearthed horror in isolation,
Recalled insults in flashbacks,
Matched envy with anger,
And hurt with quiet dying.

Her playground was a wall of fire—
A bitter coming of age.

By the end of that first year,
The ground was shaking beneath her feet.
She was all but reduced to reading lips—
If only she could have read their minds.

There was much to be addressed,
And no one to speak.
After years of conversation,
Words were useless here—
Too late, already, for resolution—
Rebuilding would have to wait.

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