Salt
By Matthew Gleckman

I wonder
what went through the brain
(besides a bullet)
of the blood-crusted man laying slumped in corner:
white twine wrapped around trigger
& tied to big toe-
foot twitching like a sneeze.
He seemed fine last weeked
(betcha)
at dinner talking with his wife
about the weather:
smiled over the clink-ity-clack of fork
and knife on white porcelain &
asked to pass the salt.

Matthew Gleckman is a writer living in Issaquah, WA. He has worked as a journalist for numerous newspapers and magazines throughout the western United States and his poetry and short fiction have been published in a number of magazines and anthologies.