Fallout (Crank 3)

like Grandfather will share information.

Reno? Maybe. But it’s a big place,

and Nevada is bigger. And why

think she still lives there? Besides,

I don’t even know her name.

I wonder

if she

remembers mine.

Maybe she’s dead. Disabled.

Brain fried too crispy to even try

to stop by and say hello for fifteen

years. I was two when Aunt Cora

took custody of me, which was just

about the time the State of Nevada

took custody of my parents. Locked

them up that time for a couple of years.

Aunt Cora says

the monster

swallowed them.

THE MONSTER

Is what they called their crystal.

We learned about it in school.

How it messes up your brain.

Makes your teeth go rotten.

Blasts caustic chemicals

through arteries and veins.

How just a little spoonful

keeps you up for days,

no desire for food, high

until you crash. Nosedive.