Disinclined 

by Susan Isla Tepper


The boy lit a match and studied the world.
No small side gardens
blooming, nor did he find
fences rough or refined
cascading colorful wildflowers
up from the lanes.
He didn’t see the soft houses
with fresh paint and
savory smells
out of kitchen windows.
He did not bear witness to
bombed or burned blocs
where the walls teetered.
Or even any that might
still be standing
at this particular time.
The boy saw a world succumbed.
Masses of clear high glass
glistened out, only out.
People were
wearing the best
and sashayed here and there.
The boy saw how
they’d be disinclined
to offer him a sip.
Out of their spigots of silver and gold.


* * * * *

"Disinclined" was first published by The Galway Review with a photo by Glenn Bowie.
https://thegalwayreview.com/2022/12/07/susan-isla-tepper-glenn-bowie-disinclined/

Susan Isla Tepper is a twenty-year writer and the author of 11 published books of fiction and poetry and 2 stage plays. Her play The Crooked Heart concerning artist Jackson Pollock in his later years was presented as a staged reading on October 25, 2022 at the Irish Repertory Theatre in NYC. Tepper’s new satirical novel titled Office was published Wilderness House Press in December 2022. Another novel titled Hair of a Fallen Angel will be published by Cervena Barva Press in the spring. http://www.susantepper.com