Deus Ex Machina

A prolonged dying scene.
Our hero in his bloody rags is gasping for breath,
His hands at his throat, really milking it.
Now he’s stepped from the screen
And is stammering down the movie aisle,
Clutching his chest as he dies in everyone’s arms.
It could be any one of us someday soon.

A row of the unsuspecting with
Their eyes on the Superball machines.
What does your future hold?
A spy, a detective, the neighborhood patrol,
Everyone is disguised in this opera.
There’s Figaro with a virgin at his side
And a pair of just-sharpened clippers.

It’s the final act. When the fatal blow is struck
With some common instrument
From the ivory black shadows,
It will take nearly a lifetime of bows and curtsies
For the tears to dry. But what’s this?
A stray has wandered on, hiding under the dead woman's skirt.
Now they’re laughing in the wings.