Basnicky.sk

I felt strong, and I felt bold,
And somehow weak, and very cold.

My knuckles red with winters blush,
Feet slap the muddy slush.

Nervous, wary, black-eyed rat,
Walking in a black felt hat.

Beneath my arm, a pistol grip,
Six extra rounds are at my hip.

I find a face unlike my own,
Withered, worn, and overgrown.

His tattered clothes, defeated eyes,
Sallow face, and fleshless thighs.

He meets my gaze, defeated; Dead.
He doesn’t run, but speaks instead.

"Can I help you, sir?" A broken voice,
I flex my throat, but make no noise.

Forever passes, time stands still.
I try to speak, my voice is shrill.

It finally comes, words that damn,
"Do you know, sir, who I am?"

"No, I’m afraid that I can’t say,"
He knew too run, but chose to stay

He knew who I was before I did,
knew that morning he should’ve hid.

He saw my eyes, black beneath my brim,
Saw the glinting pistol butt I brought to finish him,

felt me brush the polished wood, felt the pistol’s grip,
felt the hot lead bullet pass the muzzles tip,

remembered from his youth, a night quite like this night,
a shadow in his mind- for which he sought the light,

He didn’t cower, he didn’t scream,
He stood up straight and taut and lean.

It came from no where- the drive to wrong,
No need to seek it- was there all along.

All I heard was the echo of a shot…
Thought he lived and what a foolish thought.

Thought, "Who will wonder, who will care,
Where the bum is, that was there.

Just an old man with few possessions."
Who taught a young man dangerous lessons.

This old man knew the knowledge, for which I yearned,
This old man knew the fire, with which I burned,
This old man knew the brutal lesson I wished to learn.
This old man knew that now it was my turn!

A grotesque!
Curiosity!

To protest!
Animosity!

Bring malice!
Not reciprocity!

No cause!
Just bare ferocity!

No justice!
Just an Odyssey!

No anger!
Just philosophy!

To sate!
My curiosity!

No wrong?
Quite a lot, you see!

Just an old man with few possessions,
who taught a young man dangerous lessons.