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Tuesday, January 1, 2013

TIMOTEO'S TALES OF A MISSPENT YOUTH









CEDAR RAPIDS (south side)

Ebony bodies
in the black night,
swaying to the beat.

Just me and Bill...
two sets of blue eyes
in a sea of brown.
In the wrong place
at the wrong time.
We might as well wear signs
that say DYNAMITE.

Would you like to dance, white boys?
Well, you're too lovely to resist,
and Bill knows lots of these cats--
grew up around here, he did.
Nothing to worry about.

Holding her now--
but from the corner of my eye
I see the switchblade gleaming,
reflecting neon. Angry words
cut through the stolid air.
Are you talkin' to me?

The powder keg ignites.
The whole joint explodes.
Brothers fighting brothers,
some trying to get us, others shouting
"No man, leave 'em alone!"

A fist slams against my temple,
winning my attention. The agitated
dude with the blade is stalking Bill.
It's happening too fast to think.

Then, out of nowhere,
the hand of an ally--
or an angel--
grabs mine. I am pulled,
nearly dragged,
through the confusion.

I stumble into the starry night,
and hearing the sirens approach,
I am filled with a sense of dread
that Bill has gotten the worst of it.




17 comments:

  1. Nicely written, palpable fear.

    ("If you think you got of badly, wait 'til you see the bill". How was Bill?)

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  2. A poetry contest would have been safer.

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  3. It's scary how things change in an instant. I hope Bill was okay.

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  4. Really well-written Sir Timoteo, a moment an instant and everything changes

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  5. J COSMO,
    Funny. Bill was bloodied and black-eyed, but fortunately no holes in him other than the ones he came in with. ;)

    SIR PERCY,
    It has take me all these years to learn that!

    TALON,
    Yeah, it was a new version of "cutting in" on the dance.

    LORRAINE,
    Sometimes it's not who you're dancing with, but whose toes you're stepping on!

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  6. So... . Did you and Bill return?

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  7. Always a fun and exciting night with you, I see.

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  8. MAGYAR,
    Something told us that we should socialize elsewhere. :)

    KOBICO,
    Used to be. I'm pretty laid back now, as you can tell. But I've been in three riots in my time--TWO of them (like the above) I had a hand in igniting.

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  9. see...i always say...dancing can get terribly dangerous...smiles...

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  10. dang man...puts me in a mind of a fight we were in in college...guy busted in to the room with a gun...scared the crap out of us...that was after though...after about 20 people were in a crazy brawl in the hall, had nothing to do with us, but a friend took out a guy at was swinging for the back of my head....

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  11. A horrendous story that is, I guess, all too common nowadays. You MADE me read it by your compelling writing and story-telling.

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  12. You know how to grab a reader and make us hold on--Loved this!

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  13. A compelling story well rendered

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  14. hey. well told, glad it all came out well. i love the story!

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  15. Sorry I missed this one, and the chance to wish you a good (and less bloody) 2013.

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  16. Hey everyone, been a bit under the weather, so have to give a general reply. Yeah, he survived. Though my intuition was correct...he got the worst of it. (ouch)

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