Somewhere in the dark they hurried and shot him
He with a death wish
They with a license to kill
Proud and sneering they swept in
In stealth and in ecstasy
Obtuse and single-minded like the bullet
Stone grey like the morning he would never see
As we cheered on, tasting blood
Chorus and spectators
Eagerly watching, waiting, warning
Wanting it to happen
Wanting it to just go away
But not before everyone's had their fill
Of sound and fury
In our very own theater of cruelty
So let us destroy and disown him
An outrage, a freak
An inconvenient message
Devil ex machina
No explanation given nor needed, except that
If there is a gun on stage it must be fired
And this they did, no questions asked
No questions left
For we have found our answer, the only truth
In the final act
Primitive ritual, classical catharsis,
And modern sensation rolled into one
Cheap shot for expensive thrill
On which we are drunk
Full house, standing ovation
Exuent omnes
While the only one remaining, the only one sober
Is the one they took out
He whose madness began it all
He whose violence becomes us so