A gun is all you need
and you’ll be whole again
and ready
to do what must be done.

You’ll fight the good fight
and send them marching home.
You’ll explode characteristically
and run yourself ragged.

You have no spirit
but a beautiful soul
and I met it once in a bowling alley.
It rolled perfect spares.

When I asked you what you wanted
you didn’t have an answer
only a shopping list
and a phone book with
numbers circled here
and here
and there.

When I gave you what you needed
you shied away and I thought
that you might cry but you didn’t.
You ate your greens and you
worked your shift and damn it
you took your medicine.

If you plan it right
your coffers will never run dry
but that gun isn’t loaded
and your pantry’s still empty
and I don’t know who the hell ‘Amy’ is,
but she’s not calling you tomorrow,
that’s for sure.