Suddenly Aware of Their Mortality, the Band Stops Playing and Heads for the Lifeboats

I.
His co-worker's telling
that Amsterdam ladyboy tale again.
Everyone gathers. He stays in his cube,
tries not to be seen, but listens,
imagines it happened to him.

II.
He waits in line and dreams of a robbery,
watches himself duck behind the trash can,
squeeze inside the vent
and drop on the bad guys from above,
saving the day.

III.
Wrestling for hours
with his diminutive outer self,
he comes out victorious
and lies there,
covered in his triumph.

IV.
As he walks on the Moon and
watches the Earth from 300,000 miles away,
a voice calls over the radio to say
there has been a malfunction
and he cannot come back.