Pistolero

it was an ordinary pistol

highly sexualised

it only cost him twenty

they had asked for twenty five

he stuffed it in his pocket

with pharmaceutical intent

now he had the power

readily to hand

he showed the fucker to me

its number had been filed

it had a dodgy provenance

but that was no surprise

I told him he should ditch it

but he ignored my advice

it only cost a score

but it made him feel alive

Flashback

flashback

big piranha

got the fear

body quake

and adrenal

expulsion

it’s that

weary

old

fight

or flight

paradigm

I’ll shake it

though

I go

by the

numbers

it’s just

a question

of time

Snow

the snow lies deep

and cold

painting the world

a ghostly hue

no more

will you grow old

your moment here

is through

and mother nature’s come

to throw a blanket

over you

Candles

I’ve seen people dying

incrementally

believe me

folk are soluble

and they can fade away

sometimes people die

very suddenly

believe me

folk are fragile

and can break so easily

and people simply vanish

unexpectedly

believe me

folk can disappear

without a bye or leave

Societal Disease

I started on the razzle

out of my fucking head

stumbling blindly onward

where angels feared to tread

but I didn’t fade away

I hung on by a thread

while the ladies of the parish

furnished me with bread

I had bills I couldn’t pay

and a monkey to appease

but that kind of generosity

meant I didn’t freeze

the truth is I was crawling

on my bloody knees

I was just another victim

of societal disease