Check out those two kids! Only ten years old

and wasting their time in beating with sticks

the corpse of that shopping trolley. What kicks

can they be chasing? They've never been told

how to play well, i guess, so they don't know

any better (i can see in their eyes

they're barely enthused.) Soon they leave their 'prize'

abandoned, with one last, lethargic blow

 

and wander away, dragging their weapons

behind them to look for newer targets

for their mischief. I wonder what happens

behind those scowls? What are their dreams, regrets,

fears, ambitions? I hope there's something there,

and more, in their parents, the wits to care.