In Case of Emergency

Keep your legs and feet in the upright position---
that is what they always said for your safety and protection,
but I was under the assumption that they said all of this under false pretenses

Didn't you have anything to say to me in here---
where it was good and pressurized?
where there was no place to run?
and before they let the yellow masks hang down and take over all of this---

Didn't you have anything more for me?
more than this set of directions that only applied when all of this was on ice---
more than these pictures of people that did not qualify with my photographic memory,

photographic memory is erased by the introduction of adrenaline,
this much I know,
and you can tell me all you want about crossing my palms and putting them above my head,
and you can tell me to keep quiet, to be calm and carry on,
to sit still,

But even here,
even in this ridiculous upright position,
even I could see your lips were sealed,
and this was all a last hoorah by design,
and I could tell you without hesitation,
there is not a chance in hell that I will recall that big red arrow in midair