Surprise

Surprise
The clouds are rolling up my stairs
A semi-formulated thunderstorm
Swirls at the door to my room
I am sitting on the other side
I could feel it coming, not surprised.
The door explodes in a mixture of
Blue electricity and fire.
I am thrown back against the wall
I could feel it coming, not surprised.
The tail end of the storm is at the stairs
As the head begins moving its way to my ceiling
More and more it grows with great fever.
There is nothing now, just this storm
Consuming my room from ceiling to floor.
I could feel it coming, not surprised.
Crawling slowly from my reclined position
I locate the eye of the storm and stand.
The storm swirls about me, I reach out my hands
I hung my head—
Time stopped instantly.
Then from opposite sides of the storm
Two arms of light appeared
Moving towards my arms
I could feel their heat:
The pure electricity.
I completed the circuit
The mass energy gathering inside
My body exploded in a mixture of
Blue electricity and charred body parts.
But, my consciousness carries on inside
A euthanasia needle, a bullet
Streaming from a gun to someone’s head,
A noose dangling in a small hotel room,
A plastic bag being pulled down over a face,
A razor blade across someone’s wrists,
A bottle of alcohol beside pills on a nightstand;
I didn’t see it coming, I was so surprised.

© Liam Elliott 2007. All Rights Reserved.