Long-Term Unemployed

Before he’s had his morning coffee
he puts a silencer on the pistol,
goes from room to room, puts

a bullet in the head of those
sleeping in their beds, takes
a drive in the country and calls

his neighbor Walt and asks him
to check on Martha and the kids.
He’s at their country home, he says,

closing it up for the winter,
something he does every year
the weekend before Halloween.

He tells Walt that Martha and the kids
should be home from church by now
but no one’s answering the phone.