SandScript 2020

Lazy Bones
Courtney Hayes Armstrong
She was the first to wake and bumbled
blindly down the charcoal hallway, ammonia-chafed
fingers against plaster that guided her like flesh
caressing bumps of calloused braille
stiff darkness smothered
suffering lives inside the home’s inferno—
dared—
damnit, turn on the light
POETRY
liquid strands of faint honey sunshine
steered her shaking clutches as the brush bristles
raked lemon fine wicks of the child’s hair and feebly aligned
nubby buttons on powder blue seersucker
whispered to the child spelling words like live, die and hurt
waved good-bye at the bus’s crying lanterns
starched a load of laundry soiled with shame
bleached the whites
He was the last to rise and swayed and lurched
maddened by the ferocity of one tangerine ray that peeped
past the claws of the damask drapes and scratched
swollen eyes until he guzzled again from the liquored spoon
slugged late to work again and ranted
profanities to anyone and to no one and the abyss
breathed out pilfered cigarette stench into his mitt
slid back home exhausted from hustling Joes
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