THE SNIPER
-for Anne Marie Marra, 1953-2009, and for the
promise of ever-deepening and broadening fields
of view for the hostage taker, hostage, sniper and
solution each of us is from moment to moment.

breathes deep,
slow,
squints through the
scope,
truth
in the cross-hairs,
the solution,
precisely committed
to freeing the hostage.

Last resort,
attainable horizon, not
a solution, but

the

solution when
negotiation or
hard work             fails
or        takes
too
long.

If only it were that easy,
held hostage as we are—
bliss and rage, reason
and myth,
memory,

all of them,
always them, without
which
we might see
clearly
find freedom.

Who was the
sniper for the pain
that held you hostage?

What did she see,
or not, through
that narrow scope
before she squeezed the
trigger—

another option
perhaps, just outside
her field of view,
a hair away from
your final
solution.

We all
play each role—
taker, hostage, sniper—
moment-to moment holding,
held, setting free.
Problem and solution.

We love the
scope, the crosshair’s
promise, at times
too          slow,
or quick
to squeeze
the trigger,

release

the solution’s
allure and
terror.

Copyright © 2011 by Reggie Marra