If My Life Were More Like the Movies
In yet another spectacular public shootout,
Our difficult ex-Navy SEAL or diffident spy—
Whichever’s our hero—goes galloping through a depot
Or gallery opening, and man, the bullets just fly,
They ricochet off the fake plaster pillars in flake-bursts
Like desperate jokes at a laughterless party, they ping
Off the staircase’s guardrails like bells being rung for service,
They spiral through air and wind up in everything
And everyone, since everywhere heads are dropping
As though people were instantly falling asleep at a speech,
And although a part of me knows I’m really supposed
To root for the hero rocketing out of reach,
I can’t help but look at the bystanders crumpled like napkins,
Fulfilling the roles they snagged at the casting call,
Where there’s plenty of room for bodies and little for big shots.
It’s hard not to see exactly where I would fall.
Links:
[1] https://www.ablemuse.com/digital-books-28/v28/digital edition/Complete Digital Version of -/Able Muse, Print Edition (Number 28), Winter 2020/2021