Molasses city
Molasses city
worse than that
the well dried up
everybody came to see
kicking at the sandy dirt with hands in pockets
not knowing what to do
none of the old painters around
to commemorate the day
one beleaguered man jumps
we lean over the rim to see him down at the bottom
we’d all thought about it
sure
but he got there first
who knows what’s left
after the bastards done
a heavy-set adjusts his tie
& wipes sweat with it
as though to say
“Molasses city”