literature

Revolver in a Bag of Puppets

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May 26, 2012
Revolver in a Bag of Puppets by *PursuingTheCerberus The suggester writes, "This poignant poem about a high-profile suicide deals with a sensitive subject with subtlety, while retaining a high degree of immediacy."
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Literature Text

Revolver in a Bag of Puppets
For Christine Chubbuck

On a fiery July morning
your eyes opened with intention

to involve innocents
in a cold steel plot

detailed on pages
in the bowels of your briefcase

wishes birthed in solitude—
no light, no hope

Did your hands shake
as you buttoned your blouse?

Did your coffee
go cold in the cup?

Did your eggs
burn in the pan?

Did you think of the children
watching that day,

as the camera's eye
transmitted your pain live in color?

A thirty-eight caliber Smith and Wesson
drawn from a shopping bag full of puppets

One shot
fired behind the right ear

Your head
slammed against the desk

Dead
calm

Screens faded to black
control panels fell dark

Eyes aghast
in silent horror

Your final statement
against the sensationalism you detested

Irony articulated
through a tempest of permanence

Your sorrow felt
like bombs over paradise

============================
COPYRIGHT 2014, William Barker

All my work has copyrights
with the Library of Congress.
No usage without my permission
regardless of circumstance.
This poem is taken from Shards (poems 2007-2010) available here: www.lulu.com/shop/william-bark…

**HUGE thank you to :iconliliwrites: for her input/critique. This poem wouldn't have been completed without her!

:icondailylitdeviations: 1/16/2012

Christine Chubbuck was a television host and deeply sad woman who committed suicide on live television in 1974.
© 2011 - 2024 PursuingTheCerberus
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LiliWrites's avatar
I still come back to read this one. :) Hope you are well. :heart: