North Rim Nightmare

by Matt Welter

They finally did it.
Developed the Grand Canyon.
Chiseled out condos along one wall.
One hundred and thirty floors
with high Victorian ceilings.
Pointy glass elevators slide smooth
along the nose of the Bright Angel.
Every yuppie gets a great view!
For suburban one-up-man-ship
they compete with each other
using extended balconies,
windows, and wall ornaments:
Santa Fe style shutters,
imported Dutch flower boxes,
rotating holiday windsocks,
5.000 pink flamingos
strutting up and down
one side of the North Rim.
Every night or two
a yorkie or a siamese
inadvertently leaps out a window.
If the drop is under 15 floors,
they end up on all fours
in traction for several months.
Above 15 floors
they end up a chuckwalla toupé.
Centipedes and scorpions
come out in the spring
with the snowbirds
and the sun worshippers.
Everyday
a perfect sunset and sunrise.
Let me and Rocky and Bullwinkle
roll an increasing snow boulder
off the nose of the Bright Angel
and avalanche this nightmare.
10/25,11/18/ 5