In Alt-Oz, the Tin Man gives Dorothy the stink eye.
The Scarecrow has no desire to hop down
from his perch and follow her on the road
to the Emerald city and an uncertain destiny.
Things are okay in the forest.
Witches and flying monkeys
will only bother you if you stir things up.
Dorothy, without companions,
is forced into selling real estate
in the poorer 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
–go or stay–
for the rest of her life.
She wakes each morning,
puts out the cat, makes coffee
and watches the flying monkeys heading south,
on their way to disembowel
a few unlucky munchkins.
Troublemakers, no doubt.
The world as we’ve come to know it. How very sad.