Bequeathed Baby

Winds came hard from the east, carrying my ex to the sands she loved and an urn, a bequeathment from her father, now chipped, his old apartment full of former students.

The water flooded up into a pool, the students playing and spitting, little to say, the phone – the phone again! – half burned in the muddy sand, unable to grip, to move back, even with the kids trying to throw rocks, thinking he might never come back, and then having to go to the bathroom, always that.

He was a baby. He wanted everything for himself and then none of it, vanishing into nothing. And not even that.

The Trap of Being Free

We were young. We hid and ran. There was a house that was falling down. The back wall had only been partially rebuilt and we climbed over that. It was wonderful and chaotic. 20150421_102729An old camel lived there. We were told that he was almost 300 years old. He would lay his neck over our small bodies and sleep. We stayed there overnight. And then we realized that we were not allowed to leave. We tried. We posted lookouts and plotted escape, but we were caught and threatened. 20150301_141807One girl was sexually assaulted and sliced the gaps between her fingers to get them to leave her alone. We felt bad that we didn’t protect her. And then we escaped on a boat. We fished and dragged the camel behind us. It was dead, but the boat went fast. Screenshot (914)It was like a dream, the water deep blue, everything ahead.