Busting and Booming in Bratislava
Askold Skalsky
After forty years of being denied
a four-door Chevy
stereo speakers
coffee from Columbia
and the New York Times
Jiri and Milena
bought each other a pair of pistols
for Christmas
she a sleek Luger
and he a much improved Strakovitz
double-action automatic
with a barrel hinge at the muzzle
to permit ease of cleaning
on St. Nick's Eve
when the streets thronged with
figures in velvet masks
cardboard costumes
and painted heads
a moose pounded on the Svobodas' door
and when Jiri opened it
stabbed him with a knife blade
chipped in two places
his daughter screamed
and tried to pull her father
from the doorway
but the moose cut her in the arm
until finally an almost hysterical
wife came running
out of the kitchen
and brained the aggressor
with a bottle of Russian vodka.