Thick and deep brown mud
Relentlessly clings to those boots
Driving this sparsely inhabited street
Walking up this uneven walkway
And diving under ominous yellow tape
Into the darkness inside this place
Wood paneled and dusty
Gossip magazines litter the floor
Camera flashes with heavy clicks
Echo hard against these walls
Rattling shabby floral wall sconces
And photos of times that should have been happy
Word around the diner is the cat survived
Laziness and lack of curiosity
Most likely saved him
Blood spatter on his fur
Beyond his slow blinking eyes
Shows this to be true
Loaded into a cage all his own
In the back of that car
Like a criminal himself
He stares indifferently at his former home
As the din of neighborhood rumors rise