Oracles

Staring out at a tragic past
tracing morals on fading paper
that blows away
like old and tired leaves
get on your knees
and pray for angels
little cherub creatures
we can toss to the dogs
and watch them
be torn apart
like casting dice
or reading tea leaves
the stains of their entrails
will tell us our future
and we'll interpret it
to tell a story
that we want to hear
like any oracle
it's only good
once it's dead






The Hustle

Sitting on a stool
   on the other side of the bar
   in the little black dress
 She could of been anyone
   anywhere else
 your mother
 a school teacher
but she wasn't because she was here
the pefect example
of a life less ordinary
      close but not quite
        
this is the last place 
   before the predawn
	  rays of sunlight
 hit the night sky
     like fat boys splitting atoms
       on the green felt table tops
 cheap cigar smoke
	mingled with the smell
      of dying yeast from spilled beer
    remeniscent of a boys locker room
	closer to the aroma of a toilet
I smiled at her as he smiled at her
              and
Smaller things have caused fist fights
          I watched Joey
	get three hundred dollars
	worth of stiches
	over a 12 dollar bet
	
I let him have the first shot
 but he didn't move
   just hunkered down low 
tried to breath easy 
    through thick brown lungs
    swollen with more than questions
 He closed one eye
     lined up the shot
and I knew 
	if that ball didn't find a hole
that stick would find 
     its way across my face
          and I'd spend the night in the er
     instead of her arms
It sank
I took a breath
     he took a breath
  and she smiled at me
got her coat
     and left