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.)

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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.