Showdown

 
Showdown

 

 

The wind tests

The clapboard stores

Touches tumbleweeds,

Creaks the open shutter

 

Horses stir with

Uneasiness

Anticipation, nervousness

 

Dust rises under

Their footfalls,

Spurs ringing out,

Desperate calls.

 

Eyes focused,

Mouths firm

Prairie dogs sniff,

Seek refuge

In burrows

 

Revolvers slung to legs

Near at hand

Four men dark and tall

Passing the staring eyes

 

Rustling people

On either side

Seeking shelter,

Hiding for their lives.

                                     

Poof hairdos duck

From the windows

Slender barrels protruded

In their place

 

Hair on end

A trickle of sweat

Eyes still focused

Untested

 

Flowing dresses

Disappear between

Buildings

A ghost town

An isolated village

 

The subtle frightened laughs

From brilliant eyes

Touching others

Saw the dawn’s

Distant early glare

 

 

Joseph Moran

 

 

Joseph Moran has most recently appeared in OVS Magazine, Visions with Voices, and his novel, Splinters, is set to be released this coming  January by Blue Swan Publishing.