the character you know won't make it

redshirt #7
by Matt Freire

this is a nonversation
a completely worthless conversation
where nothing is illuminated
or explained
yet there’s complications
of short durations
so jot this on paper
as i cobra yawn on my arm

woke with bite marks all over my flesh
bedbugs are real and exist in my bed
finger crumble the eye gunk
feel exhausted
even though i just woke
slept too much i suspect
i feel like the chip that broke in the dip
and i'm contemplating sending in the rescue ship
or leaving the broken chip in the dip

it helps manufacture outrage
sequestered as a minor stock character
to be a redshirt
cannon fodder
a plot slash character shield
a star trek expendable
the character you know won’t make it
the character you say out loud
hey check out redshirt
he’s gonna die

fact: redshirts die violently soon after being introduced

my mouth is angry
stuck caps lock voice
conscience comes into play
alt-tab’n life
i’ll just leave you in the inbox rot
ctrl-alt-delete
doesn’t fix the inbox rot

the chip situation is still under mental contemplation

i just had a miss wave
nothing gets more embarrassing
but i swear i thought he was waving at me
then i realized i didn't know him
and then i saw the person behind me
flapping his wrist
and my head and ego just sank slightly below sea level

chip now too soggy to be described as a chip
but still contemplating the rescue

we've got a problem
but first of all there is no we
it’s just me
and for some reason i'm just angry
today
maybe it’s that time of the month
and as a wordsmith or teenager might say
i have manstration

fact: redshirts dramatize the dangerous situations
faced by the main characters by dying

i have destinesia
i arrived at where i intended to go
but forgot why i came here in the first place
and as a redshirt not liking my role
just below supporting cast
i say out loud
WWJKD
and i hear it bounce off the far walls
and fade
so i say again
WWJKD
but honestly i wouldn't know what James Kirk would do
he would probably pump the passenger brakes
and be beamed
directly to his quarters