Rub Out

Here's that rainy day & yellow tape again
active crime-scene tape I think they call it
two blocks over the street blocked off
many well-groomed lawns cordoned off
with the shiny yellow ribbon big yards big houses
Greek Revival pillars on fake Georgian houses
with florid window displays & mailboxes
shaped like barns & ships suggesting
large cash flow & small confusions of taste
many day-for-night spots on day & night
suggesting a fear of the dark or more likely
what could be out there in the dark

Burglary spree I say but Linda says no
I drove by       it's big      it's murder
they're not letting anybody near the tape
& all day three polyester suits
measure the driveway pacing and squatting
while a moustache leans by the cruiser's flashing lights
mulling over a toothpick
witness protection program I say
like that house up McGaw
married only eleven days somebody probably
made him in the wedding snaps
no just the traditional drive-by hit she contributes
& suddenly we're at the movies an interracial
good-cop/bad-cop high-concept flick with the soundtrack
bleating smooth jazz beneath location shots
in the city they prefer favorite restaurants clam bars
or sidewalks but in the suburbs it has to be
the driveway fast food being the rule & sidewalks
the exception
                                  Who do you mean they
our daughter who wants to hide in the basement asks
don't worry we explain snapping out of it
it's what's called organized crime       family quarrels
there's nothing disorganized or dangerous about it
but she's up at two and so are we
buzzing inside like the little police helicopters
patrolling overhead their long blades of light
stroking our window        trying to find out