Changing Choices


I coulda changed the world
when I was waiting tables

back before he was king
just another snake oil man

seated in a private booth
as the suits like to do

I coulda uncapped the vial
man, I coulda done it right

there and then
a silent shot in the cup

coffee and cyanide
(I like to keep it handy, for personal use)

I coulda done it then
slung my apron in a pile

been on my bike and outa town
before it was even news

and laid low in Montreal
or Mexico, whichever was closer

I coulda done it, yeah
but I'm no murderer

I just keep a vial for personal use
in case the world runs out of choices


This poem appears in


Pass it Along

© Brendan Bonsack
January 2017