We have the best seat in Taco Treat.
Alone in the back; a corner to ourselves.
Maury flickers on a nearby TV screen
and the antics easily draw us in,
A woman claims abuse; and we chuckle.
"This can't be real," we say.
A woman appears on the screen: drastically disfigured.
Burned in an attempted murder; alive by only a thread.
Her life will never be the same.
Shame befalls our faces and our gazes fall to the ground.
I look up and meet his eyes,
knowing he feels the empathy I do.
Driving away the sun falls upon my skin and warms me.
Life is beautiful; for me.
I begin to sob and my face wets his shoulder
and his tears drip into my hair.
I wipe away my pain and regain my composure.
A billboard overlooks us, casting a shadow upon the ground.
A real-estate agent towers; reminding me of the ever unattainable American Dream.
The putrid stench of reality: the smell of burning flesh.
