Kathleen Kirk 2

K a t h l e e n  K i r k

next

Happens to the Best of Us

She did what she was supposed to do,

got good grades, a job right out of college,

married eventually and had two kids

and then, just as a dream deferred

is supposed to do, her inner life dried up

into a hard raisin, fell into a crack

on the sidewalk inaccessible even to a squirrel

and before the ants could get to it

was tarred over by a sidewalk crew

to keep the concrete blocks from breaking

any more than they had already

so no more pedestrians would fall

down, break a knee, and sue the city.