#4 Troy Hill

Riding the bus back home, we pass the grass lot
across from the old ARC House
The bus always stops there.
I look out the window at all of the trash and debris
littering the grass lot.
And we pass the solitary tree
with the black granite stone
At the base of the tree
"In memory of Scott Drake"
The little boy who was raped and murdered and mutilated
by a homeless man.
The tree stands where Scott's remains were found.
A decade later, Scott's brother
was grown
and went out in the streets
and killed a homeless man.
I think people forget about that.
I think of it every day.
I must be a real creep.
I should stare at the sun, instead.

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Holly Coleman is a legit yinzer who lives on Troy Hill in Pittsburgh and co-produces the monthly reading series, The New Yinzer.