These are such clear photos @d-pend,

I like the first photo because it reminds me of my hometown a little. Our house was just a block away from the Burlington tracks. I would walk down the tracks with friends pretending we were hobos. We knew it was dangerous to play on the tracks but our imaginations got the best of us.

I see in your poem a commentary on urban America.

I wonder what "fingers on the pulse" can "discern" except that something is alive or not, but how is a schism alive and wouldn't a "shimmy-schism" be better off dead?

Excuse me. I burped. Whether "deliberate" or not, I'm not sure.

Thank you for giving us words to heal.