Other World In the Water Puddle
© Surazeus
2018 09 18
Trudging nowhere, heart heavy with despair,
I see blue sky shining in water puddle,
and stop to wonder if, in that strange world,
my heart is light with fluttering joy of love.
I step on the puddle to see if I
will fall through doorway to the other world
but I find myself still standing in this one,
so I look around at houses and cars.
I see two men, around behind the corner
of the ruined gas station my dad owned,
exchanging bag of drugs for wad of cash,
but one pulls out his gun and shoots the other.
Staring shocked as my body turns to ice,
I see the man slump over, dead as dirt,
and blood dribbles from his wide gaping mouth
as the other man snatches wad of cash.
Just as he turns to flee the man sees me,
so he glares and points his gun at my face
and mouths the boom sound of the blasting bullet,
then laughs and walks away into the trees.
I continue walking down the bleak street
and think about my old gang of best friends
who kicked me out since I would not buy booze,
so I go anywhere but our secret fort.
They believe aliens came from outerspace
and built all those ancient temples of stone
hidden in vast jungles of distant lands,
because humans are not advanced enough.
I think maybe dinosaurs who survived
the asteroid that struck Gulf of Mexico
developed into intelligent species
while we were still monkeys swinging in trees.
But I am hungry now, though I am broke,
my father is dead, killed while driving drunk,
and my mother went away before dawn
several years ago and never returned.
Though I sleep on the floor in the office
of the ruined gas station my dad owned,
I should return to school to graduate
since I had only one year left when I quit.
Before I quit I told my favorite teacher
I want to work in the college library
where my mother took me before she left,
so I walk to the school through Autumn leaves.
I tell the secretary in the office
I want to enroll in classes again
and finish my last year to graduate,
so she sends me in to the principal.
I sit and squirm in the large hard wood chair
and explain how I live at the gas station,
my dad is dead and my mom is long gone,
but I want to work as a librarian.
The old principal smiles and shakes my hand,
explaining how I can improve my life
if I work hard and focus on the lessons,
then gives me schedule of classes to take.
After attending English, Art, and Math,
I walk to the food bank and stand in line
till the old woman gives me sack of groceries,
then I walk to gas station my dad owned.
I stop and stare in the puddle of water,
and see just beyond edges of its dream
my life where I work as a librarian,
earning enough to buy new home and car.
© Surazeus
2018 09 18
Trudging nowhere, heart heavy with despair,
I see blue sky shining in water puddle,
and stop to wonder if, in that strange world,
my heart is light with fluttering joy of love.
I step on the puddle to see if I
will fall through doorway to the other world
but I find myself still standing in this one,
so I look around at houses and cars.
I see two men, around behind the corner
of the ruined gas station my dad owned,
exchanging bag of drugs for wad of cash,
but one pulls out his gun and shoots the other.
Staring shocked as my body turns to ice,
I see the man slump over, dead as dirt,
and blood dribbles from his wide gaping mouth
as the other man snatches wad of cash.
Just as he turns to flee the man sees me,
so he glares and points his gun at my face
and mouths the boom sound of the blasting bullet,
then laughs and walks away into the trees.
I continue walking down the bleak street
and think about my old gang of best friends
who kicked me out since I would not buy booze,
so I go anywhere but our secret fort.
They believe aliens came from outerspace
and built all those ancient temples of stone
hidden in vast jungles of distant lands,
because humans are not advanced enough.
I think maybe dinosaurs who survived
the asteroid that struck Gulf of Mexico
developed into intelligent species
while we were still monkeys swinging in trees.
But I am hungry now, though I am broke,
my father is dead, killed while driving drunk,
and my mother went away before dawn
several years ago and never returned.
Though I sleep on the floor in the office
of the ruined gas station my dad owned,
I should return to school to graduate
since I had only one year left when I quit.
Before I quit I told my favorite teacher
I want to work in the college library
where my mother took me before she left,
so I walk to the school through Autumn leaves.
I tell the secretary in the office
I want to enroll in classes again
and finish my last year to graduate,
so she sends me in to the principal.
I sit and squirm in the large hard wood chair
and explain how I live at the gas station,
my dad is dead and my mom is long gone,
but I want to work as a librarian.
The old principal smiles and shakes my hand,
explaining how I can improve my life
if I work hard and focus on the lessons,
then gives me schedule of classes to take.
After attending English, Art, and Math,
I walk to the food bank and stand in line
till the old woman gives me sack of groceries,
then I walk to gas station my dad owned.
I stop and stare in the puddle of water,
and see just beyond edges of its dream
my life where I work as a librarian,
earning enough to buy new home and car.
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