Threat Poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

Is it there or not?
A credibility slips away...
Yet fear continues to be marketed,
Without a hint
It will decline or stop.

A drama created to scare with baited hate...
Shows backstage antics,
Of those players who manipulate!
And the curiousity of the audience...
Has removed them from the edge of their seats.
As the director huddles with the cast and crew,
To introduce 'THREAT' as serious...
With less sweetness and a tension that creeps.

But those behind this performance are finding...
Themselves in heated sweat.
Receiving eyebrows raised from a backlash,
Unexpectedly they sense
Will soon come and upon them be dispensed.

And a lockdown begins!
Forcing those attending...
To sit and prepare for an updated end.
As armed guards from the stage seal exits...
To enclose all viewing this retitled, 'UNDOING'.

'The popcorn machine has been removed!
Those grooving and finger popping...
Prepare yourself for shocks unstopping!
And your delusions for scenes,
Of a serenity that beams...
Can now be dropped for a taste that mocks,
A perception that comes close to confinement! '