pearls before swine

where i grew up; usually about once a month or so the rebels would come through town

they'd come in on pickups, tear down the dirt track that ran through our little shanty village

two guys in the tray, one with a rifle and the other a machete

they'd take the girls, mostly. there was one, though, that would always come for the young boys.

momma always used to check us carefully, once the dust had settled and they'd put the fires out. She'd pull the little bits of glass and twist iron from my hair or sometimes under my skin

she said that if I put them under my pillow the shrapnel fairy would bring me a dollar

and then she always did

one day, after many years of hiding in the closet when the rebels come through

i have enough dollars to buy a gun

and then

i put a bullet in my mother's brain

take my sister

and join the rebels.