Threats

And so I will have to go now
Because you did not listen
Or attempt
To listen
Even though the window was open

So between you and me
Between the eyes with that Colt
Speak one more word
And I will
Cork you good
Until your teeth rattle
And your speech slurs
Until all those sibilant
Phonemic entanglements
You suckered me into again
Are taped down shut

Just turn around and go
And take that crazy
Book of yours
You know, the one with all the answers
To the questions we never found the time
To ask

Take your CD’s too
Because that music
Lost its backbone long ago
Like those Jellyfish in Mystic
That washed upon the shore
During the spring

But leave the door open
Because I want to watch you leave
With your head hung low
-Or held high in exaggerated pride-

And when you are finally gone
I will hold a party
No
I will sit quietly
Forgetting you in silence
The silence you left behind
And I will let the smile you stole
Return to its rightful owner
So I can draw up new papers
In order to protect what is
Rightfully mine
For the next time
And perhaps
The time after that.