Does it matter which way you go—
the scenery the same, the views different,
each an apology to the other,
each a misunderstanding of the other?
The line between tips one way or another.
Then down you go!
Into the throb of half their story.
They own both origin and ending, and I,
the hapless reader, plunging on.
Lives or lives—and the harness of discovery.
Reading is taking sides.
Mark Simpson’s work has appeared in a number of magazines. He is the author of Fat Chance (Finishing Line) and The Quieting (Pine Row Press). He has a Ph.D. in rhetoric and writing and currently tends several acres of forest, fruit, and vegetables. Current residence: Whidbey Island, Washington.
