Chance

Photo by RP Thomas

Ted’s Bad Dream

The wag Ted drank his fill

at Talent's Tex’s Tavern

before heading up the hill

to his house on Deemer Lane,

where he lived alone with

his demons and bad dreams.

In his old life he’d had a wife,

but that was a long time ago.

She’d ran off with a man named

Sam with whom Ted served in

Vietnam; his bad nights had

since gotten worse and he’d   

Laid a few mines down near

the wire, loaded his revolver

and stayed under cover until  

dawn, when he peered outside

and saw his neighbor Glenn

Nguyen mowing his lawn.  Oh,

Ted thought it odd—a sign from

God?—and went to his kitchen to

make coffee, before thinking again

and finally taking to bed with his

gun at his head; he spun the chamber,

pulled the trigger, and lived.

TS