Hope Dies

Your knees--
Grinding into the dry unforgiving dirt
While your hands upturned for a kiss
Or a promise
Burn and peel
Bared for the sun.

The emptiness where a lover's heart and hand fit
But didn't fill
Spills over onto the street
Where no one flicks an eye
Your way.
Or a care.
But you scream and tear
And hope.
And hope dies.