the rifle ...
for my birthday
you bought me a rifle
its cold steel barrel
locked into a soft wooden stock
overlaid with a slick bolt
where you said
i should arm the mechanism
with bullets you spilled
out across the kitchen table
and when i refused to take
this killing machine
from you
you laughed at my reluctance
and said something
sarcastic
something demeaning
and made cat faces at me
with pop eyes
and curly fried lips
while you yourself
loaded the contraption
and aimed it at my heart
and for a brief moment
i realised
what your intention was
what this gift
meant to you:
the ceremony of murder
filling the room
with smokey wisps and whorls
of incense
spilling from you eyes
you bought me a rifle
its cold steel barrel
locked into a soft wooden stock
overlaid with a slick bolt
where you said
i should arm the mechanism
with bullets you spilled
out across the kitchen table
and when i refused to take
this killing machine
from you
you laughed at my reluctance
and said something
sarcastic
something demeaning
and made cat faces at me
with pop eyes
and curly fried lips
while you yourself
loaded the contraption
and aimed it at my heart
and for a brief moment
i realised
what your intention was
what this gift
meant to you:
the ceremony of murder
filling the room
with smokey wisps and whorls
of incense
spilling from you eyes
