Prompt: Write a poem about a specific place using concrete details.

driving up the avenue
named Anita, after a holy woman I assume
she stretches her arms for a mile north of the 210
the peaks of the foothills press against the autumn blue sky
I California curtsy at the familiar stop sign
trees stand like proud sentinels
in two parallel rows on either side of me
guarding the sleepy suburban neighborhood
two blocks up
I pass an elementary school to my right
its walls are painted green and white
like the school’s namesake, the highlands
a little girl about six or seven
runs and laughs on the freshly cut grass
as her daddy chases after her
and I remember that joy
when I used to play on the same sweet grass
feeling safe in the embrace
of my childhood ways
the nostalgia sweeps into my soul
knocking the wind out of me
and I begin to weep