How to Play the Game
Tell me what you want to hear.
Name the words
and I will release them to you
one by one.
I hold them hostage
only by accident but
the oversight proves
fortuitous on occasions
like this when
the balance of power
shifts suddenly
into my lap.
I watch you muddy your eyes
and plead for their lives
as if I hold them up
against the killing wall
gun barrel pressed to their cursive heads.
Negotiations commence.
I could tell you right now
that I l-o-v-e you or
pierce the heart
of the matter
with a bullet
right through the o.
04.08 | unpublished