Mercy

Don’t probe fluorescence
or polymer or the crowded aisles
of Legget’s Department Store
after Labor Day.
Get out of Colorado.
Avoid Mecca and Stonehenge.
Mercy is a loner, shy and frugal.
Look to the empty stairwell
between stories, back alleys,
a lonely boiler room
or dusty attic.
Here it will come,
meek as doves, fire on its tongue.
Squeeze into a crawl space
and keep quiet.
Surrender the one mean bone
in your body.