Countdown
Hanging from a tree,
noose around his thumb,
her son.
She rushes to save him
(she knows the law:
the thumb = the child)
….again the uncontrollable
discretion of neighbors
must be counted on.
Eric Burke works as computer programmer in Columbus, Ohio. He has an MA in Classics from The Ohio State University. More of his work can be found in elimae, Right Hand Pointing, Alba, JMWW, Tipton Poetry Journal, Otoliths, nibble and miller's pond. Work is forthcoming in The Driftwood Review, Heavy Bear and Counterexample Poetics. You can read his blog at http://www.anomalocrinus.blogspot.com/.