Marksman

3

A policeman’s lament.

 

Originally published in the Starsky and Hutch gen anthology zine LA Vespers 1 in 1979.

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you’d think
by the time a guy
gets to be your age
he’d know enough
to come in out of the rain

i wish

and we all know
what beggars would do if
wouldn’t be so bad
if they’d stay off your blisters

so i stand here
while it pours down cats
& dogs & frogs & buckets &
assorted other objects
with teeth & claws & sharp edges
repeating all the things your mother used to say
and you ignored

put on your sweater

you’ll take cold

lace up your shoes

you’ll trip yourself and fall

don’t play in the street

you’ll get run over

and making a helluva
big impression

not to mention

being stepped on
getting soaked
catching double pneumonia
and discovering
the true meaning of frustration

and

every now and then
when it all comes down hard

shooting bumbers

ahhHA

got ‘im