the matador
"the sight of a man saying no with his
bare hands is one of the things that
most mysteriously and profoundly stir
the hearts of men"
-andre malraux
he was sitting in the middle of the street
with his pants down to his ankles
and a puddle of mixed emotion was at his feet
he was drunk and spinning and trying to sing
to moon the oncoming traffic
some of the cars honked and some flashed their lights
some of them played with him
as though he were a punch drunk matador
eyeing up that last bull
a death grip on his sword
collapsing ass first
onto the blacktop
later in his cell he would choke to death
two guards would come running
when the men in other cells started yelling
but the guards were cowards
not brave enough to breathe life
through the vomit that was drowning him
there would be nothing in the paper
about his death
but in the early morning edition
under a caption entitled "today's laugh"
there was a picture of him
his jacket like a cape
a sleek sports car full of life
passing by
Copyright© michael dennis/Pulp Press book Publishers 1988