A wedding with a twist

At a prestigious harbor precinct

In a cove surrounded by skyscrapers

We celebrate my cousin’s wedding

Where the sandy beach meets the fresh-cut lawn

We dine and drink at trestle tables

Dance barefoot on grass, golden in the torchlight

While gentle waves lap gently ‘gainst the shore

Beyond, the twinkling lights of well-lit towers

Are reflected in the ink-black water

Creating a starry field, setting the darkness alight

***

I sit down, flustered from a dance

At a table of my cousin’s friends

All of them pleasant company

Save one lad, tall and terrible

Wearing a mask of contempt

A string of insults spewing from his mouth

***

At the start I paid him no attention

But his stream of insults started to wear me down

My patience ran out, and so I took the bait

Much to the enjoyment of those present

They were his friends, but they liked my wit

I felt their allegiance slowly start to shift

***

Sensing the tide had turned against him

He rose abruptly to his feet, his chair fell back

He strode toward me, grabbed me by the shirt

And raised his fist to strike my shiny face

***

I closed my eyes, and waited for the blow

When suddenly I heard a bang

I turned towards the sea, then back again

“I didn’t think there would be fireworks.”

My attacker did not turn, but stared blankly

A crimson flower bloomed on his white shirt

He felt sideways to the grass with a thud

***

I saw a flash atop a skyscraper

That looked like a shooting star

Then the star started shooting, an angel of death

It peppered the party with bullets

I saw one bullet smack the soft, damp grass

Another struck the beach like a meteor

Kicking up grains of glass, crater smoking

The wedding fell into a panicked state

This war won’t wait, it seems

Not even for a wedding

***

Amidst the chaos, a speed boat came ashore

A pair of black-clad agents were on board

One at the helm, the other with a sniper

The sniper took aim and fired at the roof

The angel’s body keeled over and feel

Without any wings, he plummeted to Earth

***

The skipper spotted me, and furiously beckoned

“Come on. Come on. Let’s go.” His movements said

I grabbed my jacket and sprinted to the boat

Leaving my friends and family behind

I feared for them, but there was no time

I had an important mission to complete

Besides, it’s me they want

I’ll draw them off

***

“Push the boat,” the skipper cried. “Push the boat.”

I rushed headlong to the boat, arms outstretched

And pushed against its hull with all my might

Until the speed boat shifted from the beach

I clambered aboard, fell, and kissed the deck

The skipper threw the boat into reverse

It wheeled around, to spirit us away

***

We hugged the coast for several miles

Until, in the distance, we saw

A beam of light projected from a cloud

And from behind came a helicopter

A whirring buzzard hunting for its prey

***

Our skipper drove the boat towards the docks

We passed a honeycombed sea wall

Green with algae

A bulwark beleaguered by breaking waves

***

We drifted underneath a wooden pier

That jutted out from the sea wall

The skipper cut the engine, and all we heard

Was the chittering of water rats

And darkling waves gurgling against our hull

We watched as searchlights shone across the sea

***

They are too late

I’m already awake