Mile Run

to be the one who died alone

upon the salt wood of an old and rotting whiskey bar

to be the black haired phantom

with obsidian eyes

swift and sober at the

mark of midnight

watch the ladies of the night

wear lilac white and scream beautiful obscenities

watch gamblers stumble home

to suicide

covering moth infested

memories of bankruptcy

with a mouth full of iron

to be the one who

met the devil there

only to outshine him

with a side eye of disgust

the path to wisdom

a slow mile run