Modernity 
on the British tongue 
sounds like
Maternity,
except of course
there is a "d"
and
not a "t"
in there.

In America it is more of
the "mod" part of modernity,
which is stressed and apt
just to sound more
"mud" 
than 
"mod".

This morning on my way 
to the mail
I passed a house that looked
to be the definition of "modernity" -
or the "modern",
depending on how you say it,
or where you say it.

That isn't to say that it was 
industrial and/or recalled
octopus trains
stretching American grain fields
to a group of Molly McGuires
in a factory town...
...though in a sense,
or to my senses,
it did collapse an expanse.

A
house
two triangle slabs
a slice of yellow
between.

It
sat
cavased
backed
on 
a
large 
lot.

But,
what truly
came to define it -
or make me realize that
somewhere in my head
I'd collapsed something
were the two teenagers
waiting for the bus
in
front
of
the
house:

Smoking.