The Brisco Kid 2

After the day of scrap pick'n
ZZ and I were on the way to the salvage yard
when we passed Dry Gulch
back beside JD's old house.
All that defunct carni mosh pit
caught my eye.
There's a hell of a lot of weight lying there?
I questioned
ZZ replyed,
Oh thats old so and so
crazy ol' bastard
goes to all the funerals
just to steal food,
saw his wife fill'n her purse
with potato salad at the Brisco pot luck.
Crazy ol' bastard used to follow the circus or some shit.
Was putt'n a fence in out back that place early one morn'n
and the dog starts a bark'n
out comes this block of a woman
wear'n noth'n but a pink night shirt.
She grabs hold of the dog and
he comes straight for me
just a chargin'.
Well I gotta tell ya
this long tube of a tit falls out of her night shirt
and starts swaying
comming right for me
her, the dog and this long old titty that looked
like it had a bowling ball in the end of it just a sway'n
with an aureola the size of a small pizza.
Didn't know if i should run or laugh
so I just went to stick'n that fence up.

In the Shadows

No one knew her
and her age was not of concern
She wasn't related to anyone
so there could be no
judgement.

Get Up

Bishop had taken a gut shot
but it would take more than that
to put that tower of a man down.
He wasn't one for the crowds
so Jack questioned why he was at the mid-way?
All the colors blended
as the rides turned
there was the sounds of a million phones ringing at once
but Jack knew Bishop
and knew he'd get up.

Nerves

The game was bingo slaughterhouse
it was all in
Jack stood to lose all he had gained.
The next line of the flick was all that mattered
know it, or lose what you possessed.
It was all or nothing and no one had fear.
Jack had drank too much coffee
and
was shaking
and sweating
and feared to lose
what he had found
or what had found him.

Get your Tickets

Jack had just enough to pay for the pair of them.
The movie would start in 15 minutes
Vanessa's friends were there
Jack couldn't recognize any of them
it was if they had been hiding,
elitism at it's finest.
They weren't snobs
they all came across as interesting.
There was some type of gaming going on,
it seemed as though
there was a betting system and they all
were scurrying around.

Men Like Boys

"Why must you men always fight like boys?"
Men?
Jack hadn't considered himself a man,
his age was lost along with fitting in.
Nothing made him feel more alive
than finding someone to talk with
about indie movies, writing or poetry.
Jack was self educated and self medicated
all of which he came by quite by mistake.

Vanessa

"What is your name? Me, I am Vanessa."
"And what happened to your face?, you look like you've been fighting, was it over a girl? Do you love her?"
Jack lowered his head and lit the cigarette she had rolled for him.
"She wasn't worth it," he allowed
"It's old news now," he said touching the back of his head discovering a couple lumps that had resulted in the breaking of his opponents hand.

Drinking and Smoking

He had never seen her in his small town but that wasn't so strange as the place was growing in popularity with seasonal crowds but she really seemed out of character for her surroundings. Jack recognized the bike though, it was a fifty something BMW, he could place it not only by the recognizable emblem on the steering stabilizer but also from the boxer engine that proudly protruded from each side beneath the gas tank. He often dreamt of owning such a machine but rarely could afford to pay the rent of his crummy rooming house digs with the shared bathroom and lack of insulation, where he could hear his deadbeat neighbours fight and fuck, where he had spent the last four years writing short stories and working on a particular piece that never came to a head. He currently was working as a store clerk at one of the chain grocers that had invaded his small town which payed just enough for the rent in the tenant house, so getting drunk and smoking all came by way of good fortune, this was one such occasion.

Black Leather

In the distance Jack could hear the rumble of pipes coming closer, he wiped his nose which was dripping spotlets of blood and arose as the motor sounds grew closer. He could see the bike nearing with a trail of dust to follow. There appeared to be a single rider, thin, dressed entirely in black but not the cliché look of a Harley rider, but moreover that of European resemblance. The bike came to a halt next to Jack and the dust passed as she lifted her vintage goggles. "Well don't you look pretty" she offered as Jack again wiped the drop of blood from the deep cut that crossed the length of his nose. She reached into the rear pocket of her well worn tight fitting leather motorcycle pants and offered Jack a red spotted hankerchief, similar to the kind a train conductor may possess. She then untied the draw-string of her small leather pack that she had been carrying and withdrew a pouch of rolling tobacco. The brand was unfamiliar to Jack, the whole scene was out of one of the independent movies Jack prided himself on.

Three Miles Off

Town was about three miles off and Jack knew he couldn't make it walking, so he sat alone at the edge of throad throwing rocks at the end of a culvert which stuck out a good three feet from the embankment. No water fell from the culvert only dust would cloud when Jack would actually hit the metal object with his projectiles.

The Last Embrace

She ran to embrace him as her few friends looked on in disbelief. Jack wrapped one arm around her as she kissed him. This time was the last, the last time he'd stand up for her honour. His ribs felt like broken walls with jagged corners where they met and his brains had been rattled and flattened. Jack knew he had broken his opponents nose and possibly his hand as well, but in each step Jack felt pain from the big fellow twisting on his foot which had transferred to the popping sound in his knee.

Dust

The fight broke out mid afternoon at a local party house and just as Jack made progress a big beefy muscle of a man would intervene. Jack was holding his own against the pair, at least that's the way he saw it. Surely he landed a few but his entire body ached as he walked the dirt road leaving the party behind.

Time For Change

She had been his first lover and his hers. She had strayed over the years with her blond hair luring different men.Currently, this one was just fucking her for pride, but never the less he was obliged to fight for her. She was sleeping with them both, only Jack carried a history with her.

Summer's End

She sucked the cotton candy right out of the inside of his mouth. South of the border lies the state of obesity, deep fried food, water parks, roller coasters, jaw breakers, truck drivers on speed reflecting lights and engine brakes off R.V.'s lined in semi-circles around propane campfires and cans of Budweiser.

It's the last week of summer holidays as people cram in one more vacation. They come from the North, the South, East and West to ride the steam trains to staged robberies. Me I'm no different, rounding the edges of reality, looking for one last buzz to escape my son's fear of entering high school. Adventure rides calling out like the thrill of jumping from a plane falling through the sky.

There's not many places I'd rather be than with my small tight-knit family in our little 1990 Ford van parked amongst the sleeping giants with their pull-outs and flat screens. To cloud the illusion, I drink low alcohol content American beer which I must admit is a hell of a lot cheaper than it's Canadian counterpart.

We are all part of the process, whether we come from Calgary to Invermere, or escaping the crowds of Invermere to become a tourist in the U.S.

To someone we are all dollar signs or problems.