Faultline

Tears spring
from the eyes
of a four year-old boy
scolded by his father,
scalded by the geyser
erupting between his legs.

Some fathers drop
everything they hold
and rush to bind
their wounded boy;
others stand and stare,
conscious of the neighbors,
on the other side
of a widening fissure.

No road.
No yellow wood.
No choices.
These are the moments
that make all the difference.


-James Hannon

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