A word that will categorize absurdities
Fatal or simply weird
Like a man being sucked
Into a sinkhole while sleeping in his bed
Then dead. That happened.
Also called a snakehole, a swallow,
Or a swallet. It swallowed him.
My brother may have cancer of the eyelid
He says. Perfect example of a swallet
That can drag you all the way down.
A friend puts a swallet on her job application--
Married, Divorced, Single?
She writes: Deserted.
She too is gone.
But the best example is
The no-arms beggar
Who walks up to the window of your car
A human swallet without hands
You have to put the dollar in his mouth then
Wait for his mumbled thank you
Before you shrink into your seat
And zoom away.
Brenda Serotte
March 2013
NEW! American Lives: A Reader, edited by Tobias Wolff
