Empty steel drums roll under clouds. A few drop on the town, sending ripples through our teeth. Great gales of depleted uranium scatter like seed. Deltas of oil smoke leech the sky.
We breathe like dogs.
Khalil pushes my backpack from behind. We reach stone plateau, slipping on talcum, hints of gypsum.
The rivers to our backs.
In the quiet muck we’re alone.
Justin Sirois is a novelist living in Baltimore, Maryland. His books include MLKNG SCKLS (Publishing Genius) and Falcons on the Floor (forthcoming, Publishing Genius) which was written with Iraqi refugee Haneen Alshujairy. His novel Black, Light, 1993 will be finished soon. He also runs the Understanding Campaign with Haneen and co-directs Narrow House. Justin received individual Maryland State Art Council grants in 2003, 2007, and 2010.
