Clint Eastwood meets John Wayne
for a show down
Eastwood lights up a cigar
Tries to stare Wayne down
not knowing the dead don't scare easily
John Wayne pulls a pack of camels
from his pocket
lights it up
in a fit of coughing
Eastwoood draws his gun
fast as lightning
Wayne is just as quick
the two men fall to the ground
in unison
across the street
the Marlboro man engages an undertaker
in somber conversation
EARLY MORNING CITY POEM
wandering the streets at 2 a.m.
drunks staggering out of bars
beat cop harassing street whore
homeless man crapped-out
in pawnshop doorway
no soul to pawn
massage parlor neon lights
blinking in the distance
as I head for my car
stopping off at a chinese cafe
for a bowl of chop suey
vietnamese gang members
plotting on the street
old man next to me
staring into his soup bowl
with face worn as faded
newsprint
