Theater of cruelty

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