Florence, AZ
by Shawnte Orion


Florence always knew the fate
of dying mining towns, having witnessed
their gradual decline from silver
into dust into the inevitable ghosts
of a tumbleweed industry

Incarcerating a new commodity
they annexed the local prison
adopting inmates into residents
along with the windfall of federal allocations
that such a population swell ensures

Paving roads and landscaping parks
that two of every three citizens
will never even see






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