Slab City by Laura Ribitzy

When everything ends 

start walking east 
             until you hit the slabs.     

       See salvation 		                      painted

   on a mountain warning you to keep off the boat 

rusting alone in the dunes. 

                                               Past the tin hubcap shack, 
hang a left 
             at the twin-engined plane 
caught in a perpetual fall, 
 
  its nose dug into the dirt, 		
                       on a heading towards East Jesus

with its wall of broken TV screens, god-sized
post-it notes blaring: 

                  don’t be yourself    and
                  buy more TVs.

The anarchists’ library roof dips low 
                              over Persian rugs that blanket the ground. 

Shelves 	         dust and decomposing books.
           sag under 

                                           A gust whispers,
                                           is this your only window to the world?

Laura Ribitzky’s poems have been published by White Wall Review, Quillkeepers Press, Zone 3 Press, the San Diego Poetry Annual, and Poets Underground. She is currently pursuing an MFA from San Diego State University, where she was a recipient of the Sarah B. Marsh-Rebello Scholarship for Poetry.

21 September 2026