target.

there is this movie
called star wars
made in america
in the 1970's
and it is about
an evil empire--
evil because it is greedy
and controls
all the trade routes
and pours this wealth
into weapons
to crush any opposition
and to set an example
it uses its deathstar
(a kind of intergalactic
 aircraft carrier)
to blow up a whole planet
(i forget the name but
 it might as well
 have been hiroshima).

in one scene towards the end
the rebels attack
the deathstar with their
puny little fighters
but knowing its achilles'
heel they stick to their purpose
despite long odds and
deadly resistance.

i remember one fat rebel
(with technology anything
is possible, even a fat rebel)
locking on and repeating
stay on target! stay on target!
as if he himself were a machine
and he dies in a flaming cartwheel
of exploding gas and steel
(there is no blood in this movie)

i think all this getting
out of the shower, myself a
citizen of a cheerful empire
with no achilles' heel
and i repeat to myself
stay on target! stay on target!
only i don't know where
to direct my effort
and it's been 55 years
since hiroshima & nagasaki
and that's time enough
for most everyone to believe
that what they see in movies
is real, that evil is obvious,
and good guys stay good
even after they've won.

seattle
2-20-2001
9:55 a.m.
written in the 3:55
it took to nuke leftovers
in microwave oven
this rented apartment
andi on her computer
soon she'll go in to work
terabeam high bandwith
line of sight laser transfer...

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