Under the orange street light
The stain grew
Spreading out
The colour of ripe beet
Creating a map on his jacket
He sank to his knees
Goner, there was no doubt
And his voice came in a tremor
‘Hey Jack, that you?
Don’t you dump me, Spanish Jack,
In any god damned bayou’
He sank slowly first to his knees
Then slumped over on one elbow
He knew he’d paid his debt
The humming light overhead flickered
It was the only eulogy he would get
His skin the colour of cinnomen
Turned grey as he paid his price
He had lived his very last day
Thrown his very last dice
And as the blood stained
The ground around him
I watched his life die hard
‘Bought a bullet, kicked the bucket,
Played his last sharp card’
I shot again just to be sure
Then removed my elk skin gloves
I’d taken Jim far and away
From everyone he ever loved
I left him in his trunk
In his own carport that night
And drove my cadillac from that place
And on into the night.