Brokentown

By Cliff Lake

 

Brokentown

 

They would not speak of the Great Horror,

So many years since have passed.

They do not speak of the Tragedy,

Too fresh in the mind; the die is cast.

They do not speak of the children lost,

Nor speak of their shared crime.

They daily will ever count the cost,

A broken town from a broken time.

I chanced there once, a petty thief,

I thought to be passing through –

But Fate’s smile has hidden teeth,

And Karma’s Wheel can roll over you.

And though my sins were petty,

They were of a myriad score,

And I came there all unready,

Stepping full through Twilight’s door.

The man at the counter bid me well,

But his eyes wished me away.

The tense of his neck

Spoke what he would not tell,

I feel his glare crawl my back to this day.

These streets seemed teeming and empty both,

Citizens passed with their eyes cast down.

Yet others seemed more excessively bold,

Full glares with sharp teeth beneath a frown.

Night arrived on swift silent wing,

But I felt no need to repose,

Slowly surrounded by people-things,

I stood frozen as the circle closed.

“We shall name your sins forevermore,

Reprieve for you shall be none.

Know now what thee now has in store:

Shackled with us until Time is done.”

Feeling faint, Fate’s fang bit deep,

Then waking bewildered in bracing air,

When at last I woke from swooning sleep:

Empty desert, and a town not there.

In that morn I woke but feet from my car,

Life meaning more than what it once seemed.

My muscles reminded I had traveled far,

To learn lessons in fever-dream.

 

Cliff Lake 8/15/2024

Copyright © Clifford Lake 2024

Location: Wichita, KS, USA

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