something was amiss.
small tremors sifted sandy soil.
trees took on a slight tilt, listed.
flowers withered in their beds.
the dog gave up barking.
I lost my job.
at first, I was speechless, then garrulous:
speech spotted with dangling prepositions
meaningless elisions and contractions
punctuated by perseveration and Tourette’s.
my wife came down with echolalia.
we both started talking in tongues.
the house, the yard, everything we owned
disappeared, simply dropped into a sink hole
while a mere fifty yards away
people went on washing cars
mowing lawns, pretending
this was simply our lot in life ¾
people who don’t know their grass
from a hole in the ground, who believe
charity and justice are satisfied
with a couple coins in a beggar’s cup.
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