You Will Fall

 

You will
fall



American boy



with a gun



in your
hand



and a
father



on your
back



and a mummy




in your
tummy.



 



For hundreds
of years



in a
million drawers



you hide
this extension,



but still you
show



your others



-your car-



-your TV
set-



-your house-



-your
spouse-



 



We know



it is a gun
culture



you carry
heavy on your shoulders,



forty-four
states



by your
side,



we know



it has to
be.



 



But in the
drawers



dark water
is boiling metal



lurking,



dictating



to your
cerebellum:



 



kill



kill



kill,



American boy,



just
anybody.



 



We know,



this is
your masculinity,



it is no pusillanimous
act



you want to
be



everything your
ancestors have



 



and then
the moment comes



in a place
you loved



in a place
that betrayed you



it is not
them



-We know-



it is a
smell



in the air



deep in
your nostrils.



 



It will
happen fast.



You will
kill one



then another



and another



and another



then a
child



then a
mother



and another




then the ether



then your
oxygen



then your
brother.



 



You will
open your eyes



suffocating



with the
gun



aiming



between them.



 



A red look



from this fearsome
extension.



A quick
look.



 



It is the
moment



that you
will fall.



 



And then
you will rise.



 



-We know.