Prime Directive
by Alan King

On borrowed time rhymes, gassed
by the Silver Screen, they act
like they monkey-ass can heal back
like Wolverine
                          -MF Doom, "Vaudeville Villain"


No surprise when D'Angelo's
lying in the hall outside the cafeteria –
tilting his head up to stop blood
running from his nose

dust clinging to his long-sleeve
shirt with the Starship Enterprise
arrowhead insignia

We knew it would eventually
come to this; that pain,
for some, is the best lesson

mouth off to someone bigger
than you, and you get hurt
was what we told him, and
that his boyish frame was no match
for Craig, who- at 6' 5" in high school –
we nicknamed "Kreeg"

and who we were sure could
withstand the Vulcan neck-pinch
D'Angelo was dying to try

it always worked for Spock, so
he hadn't figured on being jacked up
and punched in the face

didn't think he'd be lying
there – dazed, waiting
on the Starship, mumbling:
Captain's Log. Stardate
Supplemental. Severely injured.
Get me back to Starbase.