Small Time Blues

Mr.Gonzales never imagined that he'd be
Sitting down on the cold wet ground
of a muggy, rain-drenched
alleyway at 2:34 in the morning,
Trying as best he can,
with whatever strenght he could
muster up, whatever fight was left
in his hunched over
Middle-aged body, to apply pressure
To the seeping, bloody as hell bullet wound
screaming across his chest.
He chuckled and thought
It amazing and some kind of wonder
That his heart didn't flip out of his chest
And flop on the sodden ground
Like some fish on some bloody deck.
And he was still alive and breathing
in a slight discomfort. His pistol
Was lying in a warm pool
of blood besides him and his cigarettes
were wet by now he imagined.
" to hell with it!" He sez to himself
As he reaches for the pack of stoges
in his back pocket. " Might as well give it a shot,heck!
They sure as hell gave it to me!" Bitter laughter.
They rain picks up a bit and pours down
As heavy as it had all day.
" First Marco, then Pete, and now me..
..being seeing you soon fellas, you guys
Better have a drink waiting for me...
...I'm ghost, I'm gone, I'm out of luck, so please
Don't be a couple of strangers when you
see me there, I'll be the one wearing a raggidy
Old yankee cap...meet me there...don't be square,
meet me there and our circle'll be complete,
we'll cypher a few and laugh it up, easy as 123..."
He manages to find a dry bone . He finds
His zippo and lights it up. His eyes squint
in the glare of its little blaze. The flame
goes out . He pulls on the stoge calmly.
He thinks. He leans back. Contemplative
Look on his face. Wondering.
Takes a long drag and coughs. Blood stained
smoke surprises him...dim grey
doesn't turn pink at all. He supposses
he should pray. Weakening he says...
"ok old man, we both saw this coming.
We both knows what it comes to...
...ain't no secrets now, no surprises.
The little fucker in the dumpster was the last
one, and hell, he surprised us good I guess,
but you and I know I could've got him, I let him
Get away with it,I let him go...
....no sense in trying after that...
...he got me good and well, he wins.
We always knew it would end this way."
Coughs up blood.
" Jeez I'm all fucked up right now, my heart's
So cold it should be frost by now, and well,
only you know how that broke...
... No resentment though, and it's cool,old man
I had it coming, we all do really...
...I just wanted to say thanx for letting me
live this long, 35 years is along time and I thank you
for that, old man, wasn't half bad really...
Good times I had, good good times, my friend,
was fun, was amused...
...Glad you let me live till now, I'm grateful,
You know as well as anyone else I didn't deserve
to live so long, and I'm grateful and soon
I will be dead." His arm goes limp,
the cigarette drops and his head hangs down.
Falls over onto his side and dies quietly.
Sacred warmth in steam rising from the wound...
....and his heartbeat stops.Sirens nearing,
Another gun goes off somewhere in the distance.