
Why is it
in movies
when someone
cuts off their fingers
the next day
they’re banging their hand
on a drum
as if pain
doesn’t exist
in the universe.
It’s like in War of the Worlds
when Tom Cruise
is thrown into the river
and he swims to shore
and it’s winter
in New York
and he just keeps going
like there’s no such thing
as cold.
If that was me,
I’d be shivering,
screaming,
I’m fucking cold!
Dear Hollywood,
you might not know this, but
pain exists!
(He storms out of the room, towards the kitchen.)
Ron Riekki’s books include Blood/Not Blood Then the Gates (Middle West Press), My Ancestors are Reindeer Herders and I Am Melting in Extinction (Apprentice House Press), Posttraumatic (Hoot ‘n’ Waddle), and U.P. (Ghost Road Press). Right now, Riekki’s listening to “Thomas Newman Performs the Theme from ‘American Beauty'” on Youtube.