The story is about a test I fail.
The overture is a briefing: we will lead
attacks on schools and universities
with propaganda. Failing that, with fire.

I'm cleared for take-off, screaming down a road
cluttered with heavy trucks and bulldozers.
This part's a doozie. Like a video game.
A lot of flash and bang, but no one's hurt.
Phase two is at the campus. This is where
I and my two buddies, Kim and Bim—
both of them sympathetic, cute but dumb—
will get our further orders. And it's here
I start to lose myself. Glass doors are locked.
The hallways lead to other hallways. Kids
preoccupied with summer give bum steers
to kitchens slippery with food. Somewhere
I find something unnamable that brings
a watery vomit to my mouth. Of course,
come the dénouement with the envelopes,
the other two are shaken by the hand.
They get the mission and I'm out of it.

I could have guessed it. After all, I'd read
the program notes. I knew that one would not
be chosen, and (instead of youth, good looks,
and all the charm of those who star in wars)
I come equipped with memories.
What's more, my values are all wrong,
too much in tune with children's dreams.
And when the serious blonde
who handed out the envelopes suggests
I ride with her down river, into town,
or back to base, or any place I choose—
as if she knows I haven't really lost—
I have to take a piss, and sure enough
I lose myself again. And lose the girl.
The curtain falls. I hear her car door slam.