8 (Line)

line

what’s that line from that movie
where the hero lived to die a
loser?

or the one from that western where
the man in black rode off happy into
sunset, while the man in white
swung for his crimes?

line

there was a line in that one,
as memorable as they come
it escapes my memory,

I had it here, a face
vague in the window,
communication? that commodity

lies in short supply in St. Louis
as a bell somewhere rings,
a call to take your place,
stand on your mark,
fall into character,
listen for your cue

or maybe just a call
to dinner

seven plus one, plus one
other than–will there be
an extra setting?

action

Poem by Shane Douglas Keene

READ THE SERIAL NOVEL BY JOSH MALERMAN