SLICE #19

My boys are gone
but they are everywhere.

I open the front door
expecting to see two big bodies
sitting at the dining room table
side by side
rapping or watching videos.
But the chairs are empty.
My boys are gone
but they are everywhere.

I walk into the kitchen
Mentally making a list
of things we need
from the grocery store.
Almond milk. Mangoes. Cashews.
Sprite. Sour cream and onion potato chips.
I stop myself.
I don't eat any of that.
My boys are gone
but they are everywhere.

I clean the bathroom.
that they shared.
Old Spice. Hair gel. A razor.
Hair in the sink.
My boys are gone
but they are everywhere.

Downstairs 

I turn on the television

BET comes on immediately

I hunt for the remote 

and find it 

in the cushions 

of my son's favorite chair

A dirty glass sits next to the chair

My boys are gone

but they are everywhere. 

I open the dryer
and pull out
A pair of boxer shorts.
One basketball sock.
An East High t-shirt.
My boys are gone
but they are everywhere.

I head out into the backyard
and am confronted
by the window
Zay cracked
when he was playing
with a friend's bb gun
and there's a hole in the porch
where Kadeem dropped
the basketball hoop
when he was trying to
stand it upright.
My boys are gone
But they are everywhere.

I miss them.