ekphrasis of the end of the camelot era; or, showing my girlfriend the zapruder film

by Adonis Borer

University of La Verne

Adonis Borer is a Mexican-American Jewish undergraduate student from the University of La Verne in southern California. His works feature the often-clashing points of intersectionality within his marginalized identities. Select previous publications include Prism Review, Toyon Literary Magazine, and Oakland Arts Review. He can be found on Instagram here: @bloodyscarab. 

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poor jackie, in glamorous pink, 

watches her husband 

shatter, 

rhinestones of shimmering rouge 

into her lap. 

reaching for his skull (frame 371), 

clutching what was left of him (frame 408), 

perhaps the way she had after that dinner party (1952). 

“i just want to be with you, and i want to die with you, and the children do, too — 

than live without you.” 

she cannot let go of him when they reach parkland, 

as if deep down she knows that eventually 

they will parade a dozen conspiracies to justify 

why her king arthur 

“oh jack, what have they done?” 

sprayed the same blood as the 

cubans and the 

germans and 

mlk and 

malcolm x and 

vietnam and 

next-door neighbors and their 

own children and 

nothing prepares you for seeing the president’s head 

explode 

in 486 frames. 

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