Sirens

Sirens have become background noise

The never-ending tune

The theme song to my childhood

I dance to their shrieks

Like blood dances on pavement

When hearts have stopped

And mouths stopped breathing

I wrote this poem when I moved back to my hometown Stockton. I was used to living in a small college town that was relatively safe and quiet. On my first night in Stockton, I heard the sirens from the ambulance. I forgot about that sound. I then thought about all of the violence that took place in my neighborhood and it really upset me. I also thought back to what life was like before I went to college and I realized that ambulance sirens were so normal to me that I didn’t pay attention to the noise until after I knew what peace in a neighborhood sounded like.

Angelica Flores