"Two wrongs may not make a right but a thousand wrongs make a writer.”

Sunday, January 4, 2015

Burning out the Black



The boy trudges along the road
with a load of sticks on his back.
Cook fires burn the black out of the tropic night
and viewed from the top of a hill by a cross
(erected after the massacre
  inspired by the School of the Americas)
they dot the landscape like lights over L.A.
but the air smells like burning shit.

Down an alley in the city
through a fence he once glimpsed
a rope slung around a tree and tied post to post
from which clothes were hung to dry
and wood did not burn.

Further up the street were gated communities
and guards with guns in all the banks
and a pool behind an iron fence.
Drawn to the water, he peered through the filigree
at the diving board and a waiter with a towel
until they shooed him away.

Clothes drape rocks around the cook fire
and hang off every available surface.
He dumps his load beside the fire
and stirs the coals with a stick.


This post is based on the prompt at Magpie Tales and dedicated to the people of El Salvador and Guatemala.

19 comments:

Kay said...

brilliant imagery in this!! x

Berowne said...

Intriguing; a story well told...

The Blog of Bee said...

This I understand completely. You told it as it is. Harsh reality. I could add a few places too. Beautifully done.

Kathe W. said...

sad commentary on our world.

Anonymous said...

nice to read!

Anthony Duce said...

Two worlds wonderfully told. The imagery in your words read like paintings.

Maria Mainero said...

Very vivid and sad

Yvonne Osborne said...

Kay,
Thank you so much.

Berowne,
Thank you.

Bee,
Thank you. Sadly, this could be many places, some of them right here.

Kathe,
Thank you for reading.

Sandra,
Thanks!

Anthony,
Thank you so much. From you that's a very nice compliment.

Maria,
Thanks a bunch.

Anonymous said...

A bleak account, powerfully communicated.

Yvonne Osborne said...

Patteran,
Thank you.

21 Wits said...

Images abound! Your opening quote is terrific too!

Silent Otto said...

A few streets back from Das Kapitol Hill in Washington DC ??

Rajlakshmi said...

sad yet your words are very captivating. The imagery so detailed that it draws in the readers.

Yvonne Osborne said...

Karen,
Thanks! I love Mary Oliver. Have a great day.

Kutamun,
Right you are. Ain't it pathetic?

Raj,
Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

Tess Kincaid said...

Evocative yumminess...

Yvonne Osborne said...

Thanks Tess.

Cloudia said...

Vivid...



ALOHA from Honolulu
ComfortSpiral
<3

Yvonne Osborne said...

Claudia,
Thank you.

Yvonne Osborne said...

Claudia,
Thank you.