Lone Wolf

Once vital and vibrant, 

brimming almost full, 

now a vessel-
broken and empty
gone is the being within.

In history honored or reviled
until others make their mark
not in flattery but in familiarity-
resentment, rage, retribution,
arrogance, entitlement...
only to be replaced-
the old with the new
same ol' shit
sooner than later.

In hindsight,
gunning-down 

the unarmed enemy of
our making might have seemed 

reasonable-
even heroic
until truth rewrites
sensationalized fiction:
there was no evil at all, 
only the unrelenting pain of 

innocence lost.

Still the anonymous crowd-
drinking lattes,
scrolling phones,
laughing at memes on
snarky social media
entertained by it all 

in the moment until
the next 15 minutes brings
another rebel, willing to
sacrifice everything for

Absolutely 

Nothing.

"Ballad of Spider John,"

Willis Allan Ramsey