Disguised by Susan Isla Tepper

A boy lit a match and found

himself at the right hand 

of god— Disguised 

this time as a cave

where water trickled

down its sides onto 

piled-soft uneven ground.

Crouching, the boy smelt 

odors not unlike the river 

in his village during 

a dry spell.

He expected dead fish floating.

Which caused him to wonder:

if there was no water

to be had— should the river

give up its rights?

This troubled him greatly;

he shook in his legs.

River to silt he understood

as waste and sorrow— the hunger.

He took a few shaky steps forward.

Soft but steady

underfoot, he seemed to be urged on. 

Susan Isla Tepper is a twenty years published writer in all genres. Her current project is an Off-Broadway Play on the subject of art and life.