A Tanka Story by David Rice

Was It Just Too Hard to Stop?

Our desire for comfort exponentially multiplied the law of unexpected consequences.

soot from fires
fifty miles away
on the front step railing
a friend hopes
she doesn't become a grandma

Science couldn't help us. The drug to curb our addiction to convenience had limited efficacy in repeated trials.

my grandmother never spoke
of the pogroms
so many ways
to die
prematurely
​