The Second Half of the Lesson

And then, she says,
I will be free? Oh,
no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
When you stagger out
from that mess you made
you'll be black with smoke
inside and out, and just you try
to leave those burns behind. Oh,
no, no, no, no, no, dear one.
You won't find water
for miles.




photograph by Susan Sabo