Rouge River
        Detroit, Michigan

You've never lived
if your river hasn't been ignited
with many fires in winter.
You've never tasted life
if your neighborhood
hasn't been hit
by a hydrofluoric acid fart
let off by an oil refinery
that burns the paint
off your house.

You do not understand those who live
along the river of many fires.
The water of their faucets
sludges out in milky brown
lukewarm inedible richness.
You who know nothing
tell the people to drink
because you have never seen
the fires—ghostly blue, they dance
atop the surface,
refusing to drift downstream.
You must see them first
if we are ever to be understood.

Tweet
Copyright © 2020 Derold Ernest Sligh All rights reserved
from Third Coast
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission