KindOf NaPoWriMo #1

April 4, 2008

Getting down on my knees
reminds me of movies
where the bad guy makes
the good guy kneel
for the bullet in the head
the contrived coup de grâce
and it’s true the one time
I had a gun barrel
in my mouth
(it tasted blue)
I was kneeling too
before being improbably rescued
from my twitching fingers
but that was a long time ago
the only other time
I’ve kneeled for no practical purpose
I was desperate for attention
from some higher power
promising to give up everything
if he’d help me out
just this one time
but the answer I received
static on every channel
a ringing in my ears
that has yet to go away
an itemized bill
for everything I could give
and a few things still unknown
but the worst part
was how for a few minutes
I couldn’t get up
knees on the pavement
the empty fountain
ringed by bare flagpoles
winter lying in wait
for all of us
but I alone
knelt there
the dark laying
heavy hands
on my shoulders
the terrible sky
turned to stone

Tags: KindOfNaPoWriMo, NaPoWriMo