one wrong turn
saw a worm crawling across the patio
today,
flopping and writhing,
drying up, almost out of time.
took the leaf and scooped him up
and put him back in moister climes.
they do this,
they take a wrong turn
and wind up in the stone desert
with nowhere to turn,
i find them all dry and shriveled up,
little worm mummies
lying hopeless
in the vastness of the stone desert.
one wrong turn
and you're dead,
that's all it takes.
the same applies
for humans.
Scott Taylor
Scott Taylor hails from Raleigh, North
Carolina. He is a writer and a musician, and an avid world traveler.
His short stories and poetry have appeared in numerous print and online
publications, including Vast Chasm, Ghost City Review, Oddball, Angel Rust and
Swifts and Slows. His debut novel 'Chasing Your Tail' has recently been
released with Silver Bow Publishing, and his novellas 'Freak' and 'Ernie and
the Golden Egg' are slated for inclusion in an upcoming anthology with Running
Wild Press. He graduated from Cornell University and was also a computer
programmer in a past life.