Storming into the Cantina like a Falling Bell

Ian Koh

Like blaster s  h    o        t   s 

                      on a near 

miss with a light 

                                   side 

lightsaber wielder,

 

the concentrated energy wall

is a mirror

of the distinct tinted visor 

and impeccable white of 

a stormtrooper’s armor,

                  where the entry burns

                  glow orange for the camera

 

                  and the trooper has to get

                  a new suit of armor if they survive… 

 

 The stormtrooper barges into the

Cantina always when something

good is happening, scaring the

crowds silly, blasting red

lasers that fly around the room 

to return 

                  like a knight                                     valorously

            who falls to please 

the Sith Lord

 

by clanging 

down in a pile;

the armor

                  ringing 

at the traumatic 

                                    thump 

                  followed by the

                                                      tub thumps

                                                                     in the bathtub as the 

                                                                     trooper recovers

                                                                      therapeutically.  

Ian Koh is a student at Chapman University’s Creative Writing MFA. His poems have appeared in Last Leaves Magazine, Forth Magazine, and Inkslinger.