Awaiting Election Day
       

Summer has vanished. Gray light slumps upon a bleached field of coral gravel. On the shore, a crowd gathers, pitches in to debeach a pleasure boat run aground. A man sifts through what remains of a burnt house, drops salvaged nails into a bucket. He hums a patriotic tune he learned in school. A home such as this, he knows, is embued with memories but this is not his home. The crowd shouts and waves as the boat sets off. Chained to a charred porch rail, a bike rusts. The scavenger is sure the owners won't miss the nails.

Tweet

Copyright © 2020 Eric Pankey All rights reserved
from Alias
Parlor Press
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission