bleu euc

All Off for Tuscaloosa

They say I died in Tuscaloosa

En route to Miami Florida

Bus pulled in for scheduled stop

Dinner at a Five and Dime countertop

Meat loaf, mashed,

       green beans, brown gravy

             ...some white bread to sop

A fine Last Meal it was. 
But then...

Men at a booth

they start yellin

One with Panama

He rose quick

Gun in hand 

he shot the other

Then the waitress

The owner

And me. 

That’s it.

The fry cook took cover

Behind his window slot

Came out throwing

Kitchen paraphernalia 

Panama’s head nailed by a big stew pot

His hand, cleaver-severed 

Just dangled and dropped

Boning knife deep in his thigh

He staggered, jaw slack

The damage now done

Floundered like a fish

flapping on his back

Cook kicked him hard

Broke some bones

then square in the face

Broke the guy's shades

Shattered the man's teeth

And dreams of his own

in a life, too real

Turns out Cook 

was the one deemed

'Illegal'.

And here I knew

nothing of this

Until I finally read

my own obit.

A Long Long Distance

Pay-phone at the Movie house....

Discipline is not something that came readily to Leland. Self Disciple was easy enough for him to avoid, but Imposed Disciple really pissed him off. It got his juices flowing again, like a valve stem blowing out…got his anger up, and that was not only not good, it could prove to be very destructive. Explosive.

“If you hang up on me I will…”

“You will do nothing but harm to yourself.”

“You know me that well you think.”

“I know the sight of your fist in face. I know the feel of bone shattering. I know the pain and disfigurement.”

“What disfigurement?”

“You forget what my nose looked like we first met? Go back and look at the bumper-car pictures if you still got one.”

“I…”

“You tore them up in a fit of fury, didn’t you?”

“Burnt them up…used them to start the trailer.”

“Well, there you go. Now you are stupid and homeless. Not an un-rare combination, I suppose.”

“Do you have someplace?”

“I have a very good place, which you will never see.”

“Wasn’t asking for that reason. Just wanted to be sure we did not share the same fate. It’s humbling.”

“Something you never got around to before. How’s that feeling?”

“Pisses me off.”

“Then you have not yet been properly humbled. Wait ‘til you give up the fight – that’s humble. But enjoy the taste. It only gets more bitter, and a taste I’m tasting right now.”

“So you still hating me?”

“ No, more like stomach acid…”

“Emotions have nothing to do with it?”

“Not a thing. And no pill to put it to rest.”

“Sorry to hear that.”

“Makes no difference.”

“You have a good day tomorrow.”

“If I don’t die.”