A quick stop at Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park between appointments…

An arrow
does not turn it
into a joke

The lifeless form
cannot turn
so that you see the arrow
from enough angles
to know
it is a prop

The form slumps forward

The audience are
too shocked to notice
the lack of blood

Someone screams

The scramble
for the exits
magnifies the tragedy

The ambulances
called to the scene
are real

Somebody in the third row
laughs

The nightmare vanishes

The production
earns its first star

(8 January 2018)