strategical demonstration of destruction
God had a plan that day
Elise woke with a sweat
and a confusion of her whereabouts
on the cold, wet Arizona clay
Sitting up and spinning,
she wiped off muddy elbows and lifted her dress straps
that’d fallen below
her shoulder

a waltz of a walk into the back door of her home
a stumble towards the bathroom
to find a mirror full of scratches and bruises and blood
an awful sight and what a night it must have been
the kitchen counter covered with mason jars
that had been full of bathtub gin

Harold now rising in bib overalls
demanding a cup of coffee
neither inquiring to recall
the occurances of the night before
or the loving abuse that occurred nearly nightly

cup in hand with a slump for a stand
Harold sluggishly opened the front door
to find a chilling breeze and a desert scene
with nothing around for a hundred miles or more
just the Coconino Plateau and a small desert road
that followed closely to the precipice
nicknamed by the couple, ‘the abyss’

as Harold stood and scrutinized
a semi truck appeared on the road
slightly confused and considerably surprised
he kept still to examine the truck go by

it crept past the doorway and out of his sight
but Elise, who was washing dishes and mason jars
looked up into the kitchen window above the sink
to see the semi truck swerving on the hot tar
and fall into the abyss
Elise let out an involuntary shriek
Harold, still at a stall
heard the crashing and pounding against the plateau wall

they stood motionless and dust rose
a cascade of clanks and cries
furthered their home’s morose
Harold and Elise took off for a trip
a haul never taken
looking for movement, but too dusty and still too far to see,
they continued downward
unshaken
but plagued with misery

An hour went by before they found a man
amongst plates of steel, oil, and blood
he was sitting Indian-style in the sand

the couple never spoke
they stood ten feet away and without looking up,
he said, “I don’t know where I am”
his left arm was missing,
likely mixed up in the machine, Harold reckoned silently
they stared at the dark, broken man
as his head fell slowly
until lying dead in the sand

Elise wondered about the time and date
and simultaneously they turned
and walked away.