A Good Zombie (Poem 256)

being silenced is funny 

that way    in the way hippies used 

to say it was important to express your 

feelings     

when they really meant:

be a good zombie, and follow 

the program: stagger, shed a chunk 

of flesh, eat brains, and do not think 

for yourself     or have any untoward 

feelings 

so, when 

the apocalypse comes and we 

all buy balloons and cotton candy 

and politely welcome 

the oncoming giant meteor 

or, perhaps, 

take smirking selfies with a cloudburst 

of nuclear missiles raining down from 

the blue, blue sky 

over our right shoulders 

no one should be 

surprised     

in the same way that 

no one should shout 

he  is  so  angry 

when 

he is so angry    for fear of frightening 

the very people who urged him to 

express his 

feelings 

because to be angry is 

to have an anger problem

to be very sad is

to be clinically depressed

to prefer tea to wine is

to be uninvited    because 

obviously that person

does not know how to enjoy himself

and makes the drunks 

uncomfortable    it's funny 

how that works     

isn't it

(c) 2013, by Hannah Six

Zombies as portrayed in George Romero's movie Night of the Living Dead