Waiting, all wound and hard squinting, for go
we stood nose to nose in your living room
with everything in common and
guns strapped ready.
Running up through
the years
we split and spin revolvers
turning into rifles turning into magazines and
grenade pins into land mines into
Brownings tucked behind pillbox couches and
heat seeking bullets that can
fly around corners and dodge
rocket powered Samurai swords
with bunker busting warhead tips
on our way through an informal dual
survey of the last 400 years of warfare and
philosophy governing political coopetition
as we take turns animating
our elaborate weapons and
ten times more elaborate deaths
until one of us breaks the symmetry of
progress and starts dieing less and
force fields and laser shields and
autonomous guns begin to steal
the play away from our fun and
we're shooting now from farther away
guessing at positions and movements
with fields of force powerful enough
to kill on contact and
I got you!
I got you!
Spit from your mouth still penetrates
defensive wave plates and networked space lasers
when we're screaming
in boredom turned war turned a living room well askew.
I quit
and we argue
further who out quit who first
until your brother gets home and
sees the couch cushion
lodged between the china cabinet and TV stand
where the TV used to be and
I don't remember knocking that over.
It's time for me to go home isn't it.
You and your allies will be allowed
to win this round and I'll go
before formal charges are drawn, but
tomorrow at lunch
when you're gloating about today
I'll tell you exactly where
I hid my time traveling
force field proof
laser repelling
undetectable
soul seeking nuclear bomb.
