Ring Around the Rosie
A grey-bearded beatnik sells Christian candy bars door to door,
a relatively-famous bluesman blows a Hey Joe harp on the corner block
Old Mother Hubbard hooks herself for a bone
and I realize Chicken Little is no liar
Trust is a myth created by the Big Bad Wolf,
who makes me into a modern-day Little Boy Blue
So I duck into the basement of the Dugout Bar
and prepare for Revelation
All until you call my cell
All until Dr. John shoos me
to fly away home to where you wait
with open arms
I stagger to you softly
in our house built from bricks
Gift candy bars and hum a long-lost song
You smile and embrace me warm
But more than the sky is about to fall
Will fall
Has fallen
Our lives made from nothing but straw
William Teets is a writer born in Peekskill, New York, who has recently relocated to Southeast, Michigan. His poetry and prose has been published in numerous journals and anthologies, including Ariel Chart, Drunk Monkeys, confetti Magazine, Abandoned Mine, Impspired, and Currents. A collection of his poetry, After the Fall, was published by Cajun Mutt Press.