Cary Lynne’s most recent poem to appear here was “2 & 2 Keep Making 5” (March 2017)

Julie needed a ride
By Cary Lynne

She got in the car.
That make her fair prey?
She was crying at the curb
a usually wise woman
her boyfriend broke her heart
surprised her by phone
said the bye words and hung up
no answer, no answer
no car to get to him
to plead her desperate case.
Crazed with anger and pain
she trusted the stranger
in the car who said he’d help
Crying prey must have upped the juice
Julie lived, but not without
the cost of passage
Hard not to agree with a gun.
I remember the side of her eye
when she told me the story.