Overkill (Bravado, Bravado, Encore)  

In that seemingly eternal instant
When all hope turns to fiery hell
After the optimism subsides to the
Fell realization that victory is out
Of reach...
When focus shifts from glory to scapegoat
When the ship of state will no longer float
How long does it take to abandon it?
How bitterly cold the water must seem,
When that final salvo destroys the dream.
The white flag of the defender
Garnishing no salute for surrender,
Rather the hollow echo of laughter - a further shot.
Like that ancient grudge fed fat upon the hip-
What's one more torpedo to a sinking ship?

For the victor there is always the thrill of the hit:
That brilliant flash in the blackness of night
Which blinds the senses such that they are never the
Same - for again and again - they will shoot
In the dark - never fully appreciating what their
Target is, let alone that one-day it may well be
Themselves.

Bravado: the denouement in the story of the fool
Overkill: the exception to every tyrant's rule

© 2007 Tim Cusack