EastWesterly
Review

Head, Trauma
by Francine DuBois

i stood still for a good twenty minutes
staring at it,
letting colorado, my parents, tourists disappear
until it was just me and the skull.

here it is, i was so close to that skull
with a hole where the arrow pierced it.

and that guy lived for another twenty years
despite the gaping wound in his head.

for me, it was the opposite lesson than other kids learn.
when confronted by remains of the dead
i always knew i'd die.
never thought i'd live forever, having been warned by mom
everytime i went on that old roller coaster at joyland.
but no, this guy lived with a hole in his head the diameter of my thumb,
maybe two thumbs, and i thought i might just starting living.

would it really be so bad to take my feet off the ground?
would it really be so bad to loosen the seat belt just a smidge?

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