The Projectionist

​The whole world walked into a cinema  
All were enthralled in the show 

So absorbed were they                            
they forgot they paid the dough 

They began to believe 
This story was their life 

When an actor yelled out, “Shooter!”   
You can imagine the strife
 
The whole world ran out of the theater
and poured out onto the streets 

They all scattered and scrambled        
to get home for relief

Everybody rushed 
To shelter in place     
 
The big plan 
Was to isolate        

With the world 
On the run     

No one stopped
To scout the gun  

In fact,
No one looked around at all         

In their minds, their neighbors 
One by one did fall

They battened down the hatches
They closed up all the walls
 
They turned on their televisions
To see the news of the streets 

To no one's surprise, they saw
The gunman on their screen

The death toll was rising 
The people were scared

By way of the panic
Prefrontal cortex impaired

All the while the film kept
Lacing through the reel

Which fed their adrenaline 
And told the people how to feel

Someone flipped a breaker
And the screen went black

With revolution calling
The reel fell off the track

The streets were empty
The sky was blue

The animals aplenty
They knew just what to do

They knocked on their neighbors doors
And exclaimed, “Come out and play!"

It was only a movie
"Come out and seize the day”

The people poured out of their houses
The oceans were clear, the rivers too

The sun was out and shining
The sky was crystal blue

Just when they
Were wondering “how?”

The projectionist pulled back the curtain
And took a bow