for years mary lou worked for the town’s only doctor’s wife taking care of her children preparing meals cleaning her house and ushering away the numerous gin bottles scattered all over the house like dust bunnies so the good doctor wouldn’t find them but this refined lady let mary lou go saying women like her needed one of those foreign housekeepers not just an old colored lady so mary lou let go too of all those well-kept secrets all over town
from their lies
and secrets
they built an idol
a golden calf
and they
bowed down
forming circles of fear
worshiping
tasting the blood of success
and each person
had a rank
according to
the secrets they knew
or that was given
by their post in life
and they danced
around a funeral pyre
not knowing
the flames
were
theirs
Read Between the Minds 