Pinball

I am a pinball
Cold, sober steel
I am buffeted by bumpers and things
Soon I lose sense of it all

Flashing lights and whirs and buzzes and laughter
I pretend that I am oblivious
That I am not part of the game

The brilliant light shines off me
I score a million points
And fall through the hole
And am lost

Pinball II

I rest round and careless
Submerged in darkness, a fiddler crab in mud,
Shell-shocked and shell-safe.
Rome never burns.

Augurally,
I am thrown with metered force,
A gladiator now,
Into the showcase colosseum
To fight geometric lions.

Instead of roaring
The lions whir and buzz and clang.
Instead of cheering
The spectators laugh.

Instead of fighting
I roll.

Burning, electric fire lights my way.
It shines off me
Into their indifferent eyes.

And when I have scored their million points
I fall
And another gladiator takes my place.

[written c1997]