"The Patriot's Rally" in Front of the Denver Museum (10-10-20)

Watching snippets of various videos
on Twitter—it's hard to tell
the provocateurs
from the provoked. You acted tough,
puffed out your chest
and, pushed into the man with the black guns
matter t-shirt until he
violently shoved you away. Then he warned you
for the sake of keeping your life here on earth not to touch him. You pulled out a can of mace
and threatened to use it. He
dared you. He begged you to use it.

Then mysteriously you were out
of the frame, distracted. Something made
you leave the orbit
of the altercation. No camera captured
what it was. Something sucked you into
the black hole of a karmic
encounter. Suddenly,
a man standing several feet away
points a 9mm at you, and you
respond by unleashing a
can of pepper spray at him. A swarm of
aerosol particles
turns urine-colored in the sun, the
enormity of your mistake registers
in a split second
of clarity. What flashed
through your mind
before consciousness exploded?

M.C. Mars is a Bay Area rapper and the author of two books: Burner, a novel; and Don't Take Me The Long Way, a memoir. In the 1970s, he studied with Jose Garcia Villa and Alan Ginsberg. Until now, he has never attempted to publish his poetry. For more information, please visit www.mcmars.net.