Monday, December 25, 2006

Iron Blood

I watched her eyes
as she squatted with her back against the wall:
fear and curiosity; understanding, but not defeat.
Jimmie Russell didn’t respect
a woman that hit harder than him.
He stood tall hoping she’d stay down,
not make him any smaller than he was.
Beer and whiskey hung suspended,
like smoke under a 60 watt world;
words were sucked out of the air
with the first crash of blonde hair and chairs.
Life could be difficult for a woman
that accessorized with her fists.
The cops weren’t called, they never were.
Sherrie inched up the block wall
smearing blood on the backside of her hand;
this wasn’t the first, nor would it be the last time
an uninvited grope of her ass
would give a taste of the iron in her veins.

20 comments:

MB said...

Wow. The description of "iron" adds strength to the taste!

Anonymous said...

I could taste the blood in my mouth. Excellent work.

J. Andrew Lockhart said...

powerful! it catches me off guard.

Anonymous said...

Wow is right! Straight from the pages of Sin City.

Kai said...

another wow from miss kai

Anonymous said...

Holy mackerel, that's some woman!

sage said...

Nice story telling in the poem, with an interesting lesson

Margie said...

Some poem, Pat!
Another Wow! from me!

Margie

polona said...

wow! what a story!
you never cease to amaze, pat!

Anonymous said...

Vigorous narrative, Pat. This feels as though it might be part of a longer work (I don't mean it's in any way incomplete in itself). If you haven't thought of that possibility, I encourage you to do so.

Anonymous said...

A nice Christmas day image.

Anonymous said...

cool.
I do like your ever changing themes.


Nice piece for the festive season.

floots said...

add a wow from me too
i was back in jack london country
(but with more iron - more truth)
cheers

Pat Paulk said...

Thanks for the WOW MB!!

Thanks Rebecca!! I hope you never have.

Bad place to be in a fight. Thanks Andrew!!

Richard, I've been on a few of those pages. Thanks!!

Thank you Butterfly Kai!!

Pure fiction Joyce. Though I may have known one or two similar.

Thanks Sage!! I was a hard learner, I always got back up.

Thanks Margie!! I love WOWs!!!

Especially Polona WOWS. Thank you!!!

Bill, it kind of felt that way. I will take your suggestion and see what I can do. Thanks!!

Vaughn, I waited til the day after. Some folks celebrate Christmas like they live...

Thanks Inconsequential!! Doesn't fit the normal holiday image for sure.

Thanks Floots!! I'll take another pull off the bottle for that WOW.

Lady SunShine said...

wow wicked writting
you have a wonderful way with the ink that flows inside you

Don Iannone, D.Div., Ph.D. said...

Great one!

Anonymous said...

must add my WOW! too.

those words pack a mighty punch. :)

Anonymous said...

"like smoke under a 60 watt world"
"the cops weren't called, they never were" (sadly so true)
I'm glad you share your opinions.

Tongue in Cheek Antiques said...

Holy Moley that hits the smacker!

Pat Paulk said...

Ladysunshine, thank you for such a wonderful compliment!!

Thanks Don!!

Dsnake all WOWS are greatly appreciated!!

GEL, Thanks!!

Corey, that's a real smacker of a comment!! Thank you!!