stick figure family with a shotgun

one wife

two sons

a daughter

two dogs

–

decal plastered on the side of a

dirt crusted suv

paper white skin

color coordinated

watching from the rear window

–

driver’s side

gazing with blank soulless eyes

pasted on smiles

waving in uniformity

dad’s reaching for the shotgun

and I can’t help but think how these lunatic faces must scream

when the red of the tail lights hits them in the dark

–

maybe dad will use that gun on mom

maybe the son in the green shirt

possibly one of the pooches when it shits in the house one too many times

or

take it to work

reassert himself as the man he knows

he is

reclaiming his balls from the emasculating clutch

of corporate culture

–

who can tell

when he hides his rage behind that smile

when the whole family follows suit

–

the odd thing about this image though

is how much closer he is to that weapon

than to those around him