by RE Katz
1.
The very best Abraham Lincoln
impersonator announces
the release of a firstperson
shooter
as presidential assassin game to a
full cineplex arcade lobby
on new year’s eve.
Concessions pushes peach ring gummies
& candy cigarettes
signifying the burning of Atlanta.
The JFK impersonator discovered
at a downtown Dunkin Donuts
was cordially uninvited
lastminute,
but shows up
anyway. His headwound costume
sparkles in the jumpy light. He speaks about how
American it is to assassinate
surely just as American
as becoming president.
The photographers ask
the two impersonators to stand sidebyside
so that the window of their two heads
together will make a model unit
described as “the perfect target”.
2.
The gamer can choose
to play a typical American with a gun or a
president. The president’s gun is a speech. No
one has yet chosen to be a president. To redeem
lives a typical American has to make
the news. To redeem lives a president must
convince the American people not
to shoot him.
At some point a journalist
character is unlocked. There
are rumors of the journalist’s ability
to shoot anyone for double points
with a movie camera.
There are rumors of a glitch
that causes gametime
to lurch forward whenever a president
who is not wellliked
attempts to make speeches.
3.
After the launch, JFK & Lincoln
wander down the block. They are both
unfamiliar with the area but neither has
arranged for a ride. They dip into
the corner joint with saloonstyle
doors, a Wild Westthemed
dyke bar called Start a War. Lincoln whispers
the word “Asinine.”
The bartender waves
them in. JFK slowdances with a soft
butch in fringe chaps. They do a shot
of Malibu in every flavor. “Come on,”
says JFK, feeling it now, “You fivespot
you five alive you muffin
on the money.”
They take some
painkillers & burn pieces
of trash around JFK’s mattress. Lincoln
fucks JFK to sleep. It doesn’t take
long. Outside the sky offers
its recommendation of slaying
a billion pillowbound
feathers.