the tyranny of ancient metaphors

A wall will baffle would-be

intruders, though rain sweeps

across both sides.

The odor of our smoke will

go up as a message, and

answers will be divined in smoke.

Surely killing the best

will save the many

not-quite-so-good.

The stars mark places on our

ground—so we may live among them

without going anywhere.

Let me tell you what you

will see, the blind man says.

Daryl Scroggins has taught creative writing and literature at The University of Texas at Dallas and The University of North Texas. He now lives in Marfa, Texas, where he and his wife, Cindy, pursue art and writing projects. His flash fiction and poems have recently appeared (or are forthcoming) in, Alternating Currents Press, Microfiction Monday, Dime Show Review, Sky Island Journal, New Flash Fiction Review, Cutbank, Star 82 Review, Third Wednesday, Blink Ink, Rabid Oak, Shady Grove Press, and Eastern Iowa Review. He is the author of Winter Investments, a collection of stories (Trilobite Press), and This Is Not the Way We Came In, a collection of flash fiction and a flash novel (Ravenna Press).