You Risk Everything

I dreamed I sent
a telegram to the past
look out the slippery hills

are glass
enameled rings from gum machines
may turn green

and when they call you things obscne
don't say a word
just leave.

just leave and let them ridicule
the space you vacated
and wish yourself into a brighter

place
than this one where the human race
is so unpredictable

you risk everything
even just standing still.

mary angela douglas 18 october 2017