TWO-TWENTY-THREE
ARE YOU CLEAR?
OVER
Two-twenty-three
Copy
Headed west on Hollywood
Over
TWO-TWENTY-THREE
RESPOND TO ADDRESS
OVER
Two-twenty-three
Copy
Suspect
inside address
Over
TWO-TWENTY-THREE
BE ADVISED: SUSPECT HAS A HISTORY
OVER
And over
It goes
Different perp
Different crime
All the same
Night after night
Over and over
TWO-TWENTY-THREE
SUSPECT IS ARMED WITH A
KNIFE
OVER
Two-twenty-three
Copy
Awaiting backup
Over
TWO-TWENTY-THREE
BE ADVISED: SUSPECT HAS A HISTORY
OVER
Two-twenty-three
Copy
Backup has arrived
Over
And out
Of the car
Into the house
Full of children
Big, frightened eyes
Filled with tears
You gonna shoot my daddy?
TWO-TWENTY-THREE
SUSPECT ON FOOT
OVER
Two-twenty-three
Copy
Suspect
now in custody
Over
But it's not
Never will be
Suspect has a history
And history repeats
Alison Dasho, Thomas Pluck, and Gerald So perform "Suspect Has a History":
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Jack confesses: "Over on Google+, Christa Faust posted a link for youarelistening.to/losangeles. I had it on and was catching snippets of police calls mixed with music. A 2-2-3 actually means traffic lights are out, but my mind was wandering over a story I'd been trying to write."
6 comments:
A fine poem, and proud to be a part of it.
Wonderfully done.
Expected it to end with a gun shot and a call for a medical examiner. But it didn't. It ends with a much larger wound to the soul. Last line is a tear maker. Captured the nighttime police radio perfectly. That's the good stuff, jack.
A great piece, Jack. Well read by the team. Enjoyed the read and the audio. Excellent!!
a great idea to structure a poem - so obvious when you see it, but impossible to see until it's there in front of you (unless you're Jack Bates.
Thanks.
Fantastic. Love the sense of pacing this piece takes. The form matches the function perfectly.
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