All Over the Place

When to Stop

When young you are convinced
(a) all adults are full of shit.

An elder takes aside &
patiently vindicates
what you thought stupid.

Proves it complex, often
quite profound. Grow up

attending institutions,
marking, too, a life where

Zelda’s Fitzy states
the usual horses get shot

out from under. Soon enough
a youth will hove in view

with face eager-
ly bitter. Chuck the lethal
fairy tale this time & go to (a).

Include yourself & give out
supermarket coupons as
a gesture of fear.

Confess complicity.
They can’t hang everybody.