by Daniel Romo
For Tyre
While viewing the reality show in which contestants
make knives from piles of metal, I think of the latest
group of police officers posing as contestants on their
own reality show where they compete by beating and
hammering out their victims, not to create an edge
sharp enough to slice through water bottles and sugar
cane, but to see which cop can deliver a kill shot of
their own. At the end of round one, the blades are
presented to the judges and whoever created the blade
that needs the most correction is eliminated, while in
round one, the cop on the scene that shows the most
acts of compassion is gone. In round two, handles are
added for grasping and the creator of the knife that
hurts the hand while being wielded is sent home and
in round two, the man in blue who tries to grip his
colleague into submission after repeated body blows
to the victim is asked not to return to the division.
The final round consists of the forgers returning
home to replicate a sword or ax or other weapon used
in battle by an extinct civilization. Upon returning to
the stage and after being tested and evaluated to see
who made the most accurate and devastatingly brutal
replica, the winner is selected and awarded $10,000,
while the winning police officer is determined by who
gets the most media coverage and who abused their
authority in the worst way all while finding the most
innocent man to kill.
Daniel Romo's latest book is Bum Knees and Grieving Sunsets (Flowersong Press 2023)