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Tuesday, March 21, 2017

double a, part 4


by genghis gilgamesh

illustrated by konrad kraus

part four of four

for part three, click here

to begin at the beginning, click here




the target’s name was moran
he was a corpulent man
with the body of a bear and the face of an otter
he had a pious wife and a beautiful daughter

how he had aroused callahan’s ire
i did not enquire
it might have been just callahan’s whim
or a way to bind me to him

i set about the job
moran lived on the hill called nob
with his daughter and his wife
he lived a quiet life

he had a butler, a chauffeur, and maid
from his routine he never strayed
the setup seemed easy enough
no need for complicated stuff

i waited for night to descend
not knowing what fate might portend
but before moran arrived home
the daughter came out, alone

she took me by surprise
and looked me in the eyes
by her ethereal beauty i was destroyed
and fell into the void

she asked politely, was i lost
and i was - it suddenly crossed
my mind to confess everything
and not care what the future would bring

but the moment passed
and in gentlemanly fashion i asked
the way to the bus station
as a hopeful way to start a conversation

the way to the bus station, she smiled
is across town many a mile
i will the chauffeur take you there
so you will not have to pay cab fare

thus it was that i became
acquainted with sarah jane
and abandoned ambitious criminal plans
and all thoughts of evil mary ann

in sarah jane’s delightful company
for the first time i felt really free
and knew that life’s only goal
was to walk in the light of her radiant soul

i tried to forget mary ann
and the pact that i had made with callahan
but they were creatures of the bottomless pit
my dereliction with them did not well sit

one night with sarah jane i was feeling glorious
she looked at me with eyes somewhat curious
darling, she said, i have heard strange tales of you
i know you can assure me they are untrue

they say you are a hoodlum from downstate
whose notoriety is very great
and that the record of your crimes
would fill up novels that are sold for dimes

i quickly saw that she had heard the tale
of my entire life in great detail
with a few lies thrown in for good measure
such was mary ann’s and callahan’s pleasure

i fled! i fled forsooth
roasted in the barbecue pit of truth
i fled! but there was not to be
any escape for the likes of me

i tried to disappear without a trace
with a new name, and a new face
with my kingdom gone, and none to come
i became a drunken bum

i wandered with bindlestiffs and hoboes
through towns whose names i did not know
always glancing over my shoulder
hoping callahan’s pursuit grew colder

as you no doubt have guessed, my friend
my story came to no good end
on an empty street one windy night
a fellow approached me for a light

as i complied with his request
he stuck a pistol in my chest
it was all part of the plan
he said “good-bye - from mary ann”

i felt nothing but relief
at ending thus my life so brief
and as my deliverer fled
the stars whirled by above my head

who put us upon this planet
with heart of ice and smile of granite
wth dreams of hope and facts of shame
to think that we could beat the game?

everybody is really everybody else
they are only pretending to be only themselves
everyone who dies is really jesus christ
everyone who dies alone dies under the lights



1 comment:

Arif Billah said...

Thank you. Enjoyed the article.