Beautiful Day for a Riot

Brandon Marlon

Sunshine beckons and against a backdrop of birdsong we unleash and lash out on account of corrosive grievances too long suppressed, giving voice to a chorus of dissent prompting the semi-spontaneous choreography of chaos, a sight to behold and revel in.

How riveting to witness the delightful arbitrariness of anarchy, its tempo and momentum, seriatim surprises upending social norms so that anything goes and everyone does what seems right in his or her eyes.

What loveliness in the whir of beer bottles soaring airborne, arcing into rows of uniformed fiends in tactical gear, their visors perfect targets for projectiles whose percussion tickles the eardrum with its euphony.

With the utmost gracefulness and agility we crowbar our way into department stores and set ablaze banks abandoned by cowards; as the stone hurled from the sling, we propel each other to summits of edifying bedlam while the breeze caresses and cools.

For those of you who remain nonplussed, I’ll let you in on a little secret: we crave catharsis, not healing; relief, not rapprochement. You must concede that bottling things up indefinitely is neither salutary nor advisable.

Perhaps we deserved to be cudgeled and carted away as sirens blared. I praise the governor for his timidity; I laud the mayor for her reluctance and hesitation. Bless your hearts, we couldn’t have done it without you.

May rowdy crowds ever eschew the stolidity of order in favor of the ebullition of lawlessness, so that civilization unconditionally surrenders and the powers that be understand at last that justice comes in many different flavors, that vengeance is one of them, and that Plunder and Vandalism Matter.