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”