I am
standing
tall and still
at the edge of the world

all of the streets
and their
accompanying lights
fall apart
and crease away into the earth

when all the new and old
construction
disappears
into pictures of the past,
pictures
of riveters
with lunchboxes and coke
sandwiches and steel-toed shoes

earth,
with its oxidizing nature
peels away every scrap
and bit of debris
while
the shopping malls
and parking lots

flourish

like your grandmother's garden

like
your grandmother's
ash-white
hair
in the summer sun

while
you
fall apart.