she was six and he five
they walked a mile or so
hand in hand
nearly every single day
to missus munster’s
kindergarten class
reciting nursery rhymes
and interpreting clouds
and calling out flowers
by their given names
may two thousand sixteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
I didn’t expect anyone to believe me
so I kept lying about how many
men I had killed in the desert
My hands were as steady as my
steely eyes as I pretended
to be discharging my sidearm at some
goon I called Grover
When the bullets ran out I hunched
down and quickly reloaded
I could tell some of the kids
were disinterested but most
were raising their hands enthusiastically
pelting me with naive questions
as I was hauled away like some
common criminal void of any rights
december two thousand fourteen
copyright j matthew waters
all rights reserved
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