I hear

When i think of the mall,

I hear

Shopping bags rattering,

chattering on the phone.

Children blowing bubbles with their drinks,

footsteps of a leopard.

End of the day speaker.

Slow motion chit chat,

quiet as a funeral.

Doors opening,

doors closing.

All silence, all leave.

Staff pushing trolleys,

splashing of water and mop.

Windows being rubbed,

soft breathing.

And there, outside the playground

As if it had never ceased to be

But only needed listening to

The clicking of cicadas, in the warming sunlight.