The Hard Way

Put pebbles in your shoes before you start.

Forswear maps, a compass—

north and south are meaningless

since you have trouble with your left and right.

Try walking backwards for a while.

Each stumble and sprain adds up;

just don’t kid yourself it’s all good grist.

Some skills are necessary.

Silence and exile came easy,

but I never got the knack of cunning.

Lastly, be warned—

once real xanax online pharmacy you’ve set out

there’s no arriving

and no way back.

Hilaire is a Melbourne-born, London-based writer. Triptych Poets: Issue One (Blemish Books, Canberra) featured a selection of her poems. Her novel Hearts on Ice was published by Serpent’s Tail in 2000. For more, see: http://hilaireinlondon.wordpress.com/