Bravado

“They’re all messed up…”
Police officer in “Night of the Living Dead”

I am wandering around the house
Like a wounded animal.
I’m eyeing the merlot
And it’s only nine a.m.
My habitat’s been knocked flat;
My familiars picked off
Like ducks in a shooting gallery.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
Someone’s an excellent shot.
Father, mother, marriage
And Joyce in the tower;
Four dead ducks in a row.
I flip the bird to the carnival crack-shot,
“Can’t catch me you bastard.”
Then somebody backs over
The Pekinese across the street.
Wailing over a dead dog,
I see I’m on my knees;
A game bird,
Down and full of buckshot
Like everybody else.