In the muddy crevice under old bottle caps
the fluffy entrails of a forgotten teddy bear
strings of off-white dental floss and
the worn velvet box holding a tarnished golden ring
the red eyes peek out at the world
seeing the boys with their sharp sticks
hacking and chopping and coughing
pillaging for anything redeemable
in this stained, rotting welt on the crust
not knowing if they’ll have enough to buy dinner
or become the dinner of something else