pitch raze i thought it was black paint muddying up the periphery of the path. it was tar. i took it for the work of some thug who fancied himself an artist. piss_poor graffiti. wrong again. my father asked a man in a white truck with the name of a knot branded on its swollen cheek if he knew who did this. "the city, i imagine," the man said. "but don't quote me on that." he said the idea was to stop the pavement from cracking, and to keep snow and ice from slipping into slits that didn't exist. preventative maintenance. that's what he called it. it looked like shit to me. no sense or symmetry to its spread. most of the surface left untouched. so much chocolate syrup drizzled over the top of a burnt cake only good for stepping on and scoffing at. 241003 what's it to you? who go blather from