Dedication
One plus one equals two, two plus two equals four, and four plus four equals eight.
A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O-
BANG!
My little brother sits in his class counting down the days ‘til his favorite holiday.
Picks his nose and plays tic-tac-toe
Without a worry in the world:
Laughing and singing,
Anxious only for recess.
A brand new world awaits him with his friends
Hopscotch and dodgeball and the exchange of a rare specialty called Hubba Bubba Max
It would all be his
The moment the bell-
BANG!
Three minus one equals two.
“Repeat after me, boys and girls.
C-A-T. D-O-G.”
R-U-N. R-U-N?
G-U-N?
“Everyone get down, get down!”
BANG!
He’s stumbling; he’s falling.
Stampede of screams swallowing stupefied students
Too much noise,
He smacks the ground and screams,
“Help!”
A sour metal aroma tunnels through his lungs.
Smoke around him smoke within him smoke in front of him smoke below him.
He whirls in the chaos-
BANG!
He hears The Boogeyman stomping down the stairwell
Locked and loaded
So the kid crawls to a door out
Shaking and desperate
To escape this nightmare
He’s so close so close so close
My little brother can taste the freedom
Sweeter than any piece of coveted gum.
“Mommy, Daddy,” he’s whispering, “Don’t let him get me!”
One
More
Step
Until
He- BANG!
Row, row, row your boat
quickly down the stream
Scarily, scarily, scarily, scarily
Life’s fucked at the seams