Here I sit in jail
‘cause they caught me
again.
In a hail of bullets
After I shot my last round
It was give up or die
So here I sit in
jail.
The hanging judge
They call him,
The man I will stand
in front
Of tomorrow.
Regrets that I didn’t
Run and got shot.
No anticipation of
the trap door
Snapping open beneath
me,
Just dead in the
street,
But no regret of
riding the outlaw trail.
I look out my window
to the yard below
Where workers are building
the scaffold
They expect me to
swing from.
The day after the
trial.
Their hammers crack
on the nails
Sound like gunfire to
my ears.
The Deputy sticks in
his head,
And asks what I want
for my last meal.
“What would be the
best food
This town has to
offer”
I answer back
“That would be it.”
“Tonight” he said
“You will settle for
beans and bread.”
I turn and look back
out the window,
And heard “Tomorrow you’re
going to hell”
No doubt about my
end,
It has been a long
run to here
From killing the baster
that beat my mother,
And the Fargo Express
office I robbed.
More killing and
stealing
Than I can remember.
But for the first asshole
Every man I shot had
been trying to kill me.
Beans and bread and
water
Even condemned men
have to eat,
And I ate every bite
Before I lay to
sleep.
Waking to the rattle
of keys in the lock
“Only coffee for you
this morning.
No need wasting food
on a dead man”
Without a word I
drank.
Into the court room I
walked
Shackled hand and
foot.
Charged with murder, thievery,
and horse stealing
“How do you plead?”
the judge asked.
“For mercy, I plead
for mercy”
Looking from his eyes
to my feet,
As he said
“Hang by the neck
until dead!”
“You days on the
outlaw trail are at an end”
He smirked and slammed
his little hammer
Hard onto his desk.
“May God have mercy
on your soul.”
Hands on either arm,
they shoved me
Back to my cell, and
took off my chains.
I heard the ringing
of the slamming
Of the cell door echoing
through the jail house.
Along time, an infinity
of time
The sheriff came back
and asked,
“Do you not care what
you eat tonight?”
“No, just so long as
it comes from the best place in town.”
All of the hammering
was done, and the night was quite
When the Deputy bought
my last meal,
Open the door, and
set it on the bed,
With his gun drawn,
and eyes me.
He left and I took
the cover off the basket, fried chicken
I smiled as I took pieces out,
how were they to know
That the love of my
life worked in the best eatery in town,
And in the breast she
had hid a derringer?
I ate the chicken,
and sides, drank the milk,
And told the Deputy I
was done.
He came in. but did
not pull his gun as he gathered my mess,
And as he straighten
up I put my gun in his face.
Made his drop his gun
belt, and lay on the bed face down.
I locked him in, found
my pistol, stole a shotgun and some shells
Walked down the stairs,
and out the door
Where she waited
holding two horses
They looked like good
ones, like fast ones.
After a kiss, away on the
outlaw trail we rode.
