Saxophone black beetle eyes,
her chief concern was the
two hundred dollar alimony.
That, and the slow tips
from the graveyard crowd.
What woke her up
before each shift was the coming move.
Two months time would have her
in Salt Lake City, out of Desert Town,
or whatever town it was
that had her stuck, stuck
in the last rut before the end
of what she called, The worst chapter
in my life. She said,
It was a long time coming.
She said it like she was a train
rocking down the line
with its horn piercing off key
and there in the middle of the tracks
was her ex-husband
and, in his hand, a fist full of sand.
