in my alternate universe
the tin man in the Wizard of Oz
gives Dorothy the stink eye.
The scare crow has no desire
to hop down and follow the road
to the Emerald city and higher consciousness.
Things are fine in the forest.
Witches and flying monkeys
only bother you if you stir things up.
Dorothy, without companions,
is forced into selling real estate
in the lesser neighborhoods on
the north end of Oz.
She dyes the ruby slippers black
to attract less attention
and settles down
with one of the taller munchkins.
She never goes home.
Except at night in her dreams,
when she rides the hurricane
back to Kansas,
looks around,
and is stuck in that moment,
the moment of indecision,
for the rest of her life — go or stay?
Luckily she wakes each morning,
puts the cat out, makes coffee,
and watches the flying monkeys heading south,
on their way to disembowel
a few unlucky munchkins.
Troublemakers, no doubt.