Car Wreck
She sits across from the doctor’s desk
and she is pale
and nearly covered with swirling tattoos.
Her hair, like her skin, is multihued
and it is shaved
in one large patch over her left ear.
The doctor feigns disregard
for her appearance
and so instantly she knows he lies.
She ignores his false greeting and
stares and waits
until he looks at the paper and speaks her name.
“You can call me what you want,”
she says slowly,
“but my true name is Car Wreck.”
“Oh, Car Wreck,” he answers
smug and humoring.
“Why would you call yourself Car Wreck?”
“Because I’m dying in one,”
she answers flatly
“except instead of suddenly, I’m dying slowly.”
Expedition
We discovered a land
of people and birds
and nothing else.
of people and birds
and nothing else.
No plants or trees.
No other creatures.
No buildings or roads.
A great expanse
of smooth bare earth.
A great expanse
of smooth bare earth.
The people were naked.
The birds flew
at eye level.
at eye level.
No lower than the eyes
of the youngest child.
No higher than the eyes
of the tallest man.
of the youngest child.
No higher than the eyes
of the tallest man.
***
Dale Wisely
