Roulette

Roulette

By: James Dubeau

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Soulless days

Spent punching 9 to 5

For a soulless company

Only filling space

Only filling time

Only a number

A lonely cog in the machine

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Soulless life

No true friends

To hang out with

Talking about this and that

Being real

Being true

Being there

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Soulless love

No one to come home to

To be in love with

No one to cheer for

No one to be cheered by

Empty bed

Empty heart

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Soulless home

No family left

Parents are gone

Along with all others

Who bear the same name

Dead and buried

Or left estranged

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Go out on a limb

Make an effort

Fill the days

With life and love

And home will sing

Happiness and joy

An overflowing soul

Bang

Unblinking Black Eye

Unblinking Black Eye

By: James Dubeau

The unblinking black eye watched me.

I thought about the size of the holes

It would put into me.

I thought about the quick death

He could grant me.

I thought about the death he brought

Upon my beloved.

I thought about the weight

Of my revolver at my side.

I thought about the days

I spent as a young man

Practicing quick draws in the mirror.

I thought about the aches

In my aging hands.

I thought about the slowness of my revolver

Which had not been fired

In many years before this day.

45

45
By: James Dubeau

Sitting here
Gazing across the room
Watching the flames
Lick and curl
Slowly melting ice
Condensation dripping
Into my scotch
Aged from ‘45
Days of the past
Roll on through
Checked and marred
With tones of sepia
As an old-time movie
All of the errors
All of the mistakes
Everything done wrong
To lead me down
This path to today
When I turned 45
Violins play
Somewhere behind me
Scratched melodies
Waltzes and suites
Have soothed the souls
Since ages past
Needle upon vinyl
Spinning 45
In my lap
Wood and metal
Rests unmoving
Heavy and steadfast
Cold to touch
Reluctantly raised
To my temple
Cleansing away
All the demons
Haunting my soul
In a flash
Of my .45

In Black Alley

In Black Alley
By: James Dubeau

In black alley
I stood alone
When year’s first flakes
Began to fall
A hulking form
Encased in shadow
Stood just beyond
And blocked any hope
Of a reprieve
Puffs of fog
Escaped my lips
An ascending spirit
But there was no shiver
From my soul
On this winter’s night

In black alley
Between the bricks
The concrete
And the sky
Parting clouds
Undress the moon
Revealing everything
There were no words
To cut the stillness
The silence
Or the night

BANG
Flesh ripped
BANG
Sinew torn
BANG
Bones shatter
BANG
Brains splatter
BANG
BANG
BANG

Wet snowflakes
Drift lazily
Swirling in a breeze
A body lay
In pooling blood
Entombed
By death’s decree
And that is where
It did stay
Alone and dead
Until winter’s end
In black alley

Dark Alley

Dark Alley
By: James Dubeau

My 45
Weighs heavy
In my hand
Against my soul
As I step
With trepidation
Down the dark alley
Eyes dart across
Every shadow
Every hiding place
For that scumbag to lurk
A trashcan crashes
I wheel to face
The daemon I chased
From the darkness emerged
A stray cat
Then from behind me
A handgun exploded
Cordite reached my nostrils
Above rotten garbage
I fell to my knee
My 45 clattered
Against the pavement
Impotent
Against that vagabond
Against my killer
Sprinting from the alley