Two Pictures

I showed him two pictures

And I couldn’t remember

Which picture

Makes him

The good guy

I’m supposed to know

Which pictures

Mean which

But sometimes

I forget to check

Before I go in the room

I forget to check

The answers

The answers

Aren’t like answers

To math

They’re telling

They tell us things

And it’s very important

You know

What they’re telling you

Before the people looking at them

Tell you anything

Because you might need to know

Like, right in that moment

What each picture means

So that

When they point at one

And say--

That’s a balloon

Or--

That’s a koala bear

You might need to know

That seeing a balloon

Means they’re prone

To quick outbursts

Of violence

And a koala bear means nothing

So don’t worry about it

But you can’t say--

Oh hang on
Let me go in the back room

And check to see

If what you just said

Means it’s cool

Or not cool

For me to be alone

In a room with you, sir or ma’am

No, you have to know

In the moment

So when I was sitting there

In that room

Holding those two photos

And I couldn’t remember

What meant what

I felt a bead of sweat

At my temple

Ready to drop

But you see

The minute the sweat drops

It doesn’t matter

What the person sees

In the photo

It only matters

That you’re afraid

And your fear

Is just going to breed

More fear

Fear manifests itself

In all kinds of ways

But the main way

Is in the quick strike

The hand up

And sharp

The identification

Of something

That can be used

As a weapon

And the use

Of that weapon

To protect one’s self

Move first, ask second

Forgiveness comes last

I showed him a photo

And he picked the one
On the left

And said it looked like

An ice cream cone

I didn’t know what that meant

And because I didn’t know

And I couldn’t be sure

I took the pen in my hand

And I jammed it

Into his eye

As deep as it would go

Until I was sure

He was dead

I couldn’t take any chances

Maybe reading him

Would have been enough

But, you know

I’m not very good

At reading people

It’s just never been something
I’m particularly

Good at