Just An Imposter

A capo takes revenge during a gang war.

The don, a pint of whiskey, down his throat hurls
“Take your pick from these beautiful girls”
With politeness, his offer I refuse
To light a cigarette, his lighter I use

I crack open a window and by it stand
Smoking, I observe the festivities grand
Getting married today is the don’s son
All the don’s men are having fun

They dance with paid women; the groom with the bride
Detached from the loud festivities, I stare outside
I think of my dad as I look up at the stars
I look down and see a bevy of unknown cars

Armed men emerge from them and enter from the back
I take out my gun and fire in the air, “We are under attack”
The women, panicking, for help beseech
The men hurriedly, for their firearms, reach

“Follow me,” I say, and make my way to a flat
Where guns and explosives of various makes sat
I wear a bandolier of grenades and sling a machine gun
I carry a pack of C4 charges and pick up a shotgun

With the others similarly equipped, to the don, I return
“It’s time to finish your enemies,” I say and hand him a gun
The don checks the gun and says, frowning, “I don’t follow”
“With all your enemies inside, this building I am gonna blow

On helicopters landing on the roof, we will safely get away
When the building comes under the explosives’ sway
The don agrees, “It’s time this gang war we finally end”
I say, “Don’t worry. Your enemies, to hell, I will send”

Throughout the building, in gunfights, we engage
We maim, we kill, we massacre, we rage
We place the C4s in the building throughout
Rushing from place to place in a frenzied bout

By now the helicopters have taken away all the womenfolk
The don is in a state of nervous excitement, doing a line of coke
I climb into the helicopter with him
“Let’s leave,” he says in a voice grim

I ask the don, “Do you recall a policeman you killed fifteen years ago?”
“Huh, what are you talking about? Start the helicopter and let’s go”
“I am the policeman’s son,” I say, and drop the bandolier of grenades in the cockpit
I jump out of the helicopter, yank the pin of a grenade, and, inside, throw it

The don shoots with the gun I had given him
As the bullet catches me in the chest, my eyes go dim
The grenade explodes, the grenades in the bandolier explode
The c4s throughout the building explode, load after load

I jump off the roof and hit the belt of the bag at my chest
The parachute opens and carries me below, almost at rest
As I come to the ground, I find police guns, from all directions, trained at me
I slowly fish out an ID card; “I am one of you, an undercover cop, you see”