They Both Die in the End

Says one kid to the other,
Not by way of a spoiler
But trying to remember

A particular story.
Not enough information.
Romeo and Juliet

Doesn’t cross either kid’s mind.
Now you’re wondering, yourself,
What’s this one where they both die

That the kid’s talking about?
And then your thoughts wander off
To how tales are known by plots

But loved for other reasons,
How the focus of a tale
On a few key characters

Makes life or death important,
Not as important as yours
At the center of your world

But vastly more important
Than those of the bit players,
To say nothing of the lives

Being lived beyond the tales,
How if you opened the lens
Wide, they all die in the end.

Oh, yeh, yeh, that’s a good one,
One kid says, remembering,
Or pretending, to stay in

The conversation. A nod,
Contented, but that’s the end.
They talk something else instead.