sometimes, people-watching can inspires...
the old gangster
where once his panther tattoo
had flexed on sinewy skin
on his arm is now
a faint shadow on
weathered leather
and dementia
had banished
the fights and bullying
the bearing scrapers
acid bulbs
and police sirens
to the lost alleys
of his mind
and now he sits
at the coffee shop
hunched, alone
slowly sipping his coffee
waiting
for the last parang slash
to fall on
his head.
20/04/2012
**********
© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ), 2012
3 comments:
Don't you love to watch people in coffee shops and wonder about them. making up stories about people is one of my favorite coffee activities...you did this well. : )
The violent end makes one wonder what he has done as a gangster. It's a bit chilling, imagining a blow like that coming any moment. But if he has been a violent man, it's out of habit he would have that at the back of his mind, even as he's drinking coffee calmly at the coffee shop. Vivid portrait.
Thanks, Lynn!
people watching can be a rich source of materials for writing.
i guess i have a fertile imagination. not really! when i was younger, i stayed in a seedy neighbourhood, so i do know a bit about how these people operate. that's people watching. :)
Raven,
thanks for the comment.
i am glad you interpret the poem this way, allows me to see it at a new perspective. when i wrote the last few lines, it was a metaphor for his final fight, i.e. death due to old age, to catch up with him. but of course, old enemies can catch up with him even before old age.
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