It was nearly time, almost - but not quite yet
As a lone dust devil swirled above the dirt street
Dressed in dusty, worn clothes, there are few who would bet
That this man was one of the gunfighter elite.
His quick right hand twitched in anticipation
As he looked his slick adversary in the eye.
When the time came there would be no hesitation
He’d simply fire and the gambler would die.
Suddenly it was time and instinct took over
The gambler’s shot hit the ground in front of his boot
The second shot went wild killing a drover.
His gun cleared the holster, he would carefully shoot
The gamblers eyes bulged, he fired again in fear
The gunfighter’s Colt leveled, the shark turned white
A metallic double click, the end was now near,
As the cocked hammer notch lined up with the front sight
Calmly he applied pressure from his finger tip
Hammer smashed cap, sulfurous powder ignited
The big gun barked loudly in the gunfighters grip
Sending a lead ball to the spot where he’d sighted
The gambler toppled over and fell to the ground,
Living just a moments before, now he was dead.
Felled by the blast of a single forty-four round
That smashed its way through his brain and shattered his head.
Author notes
Image source: http://www.legendsofamerica.com/photos-oldwest/Gunfighter.jpg
A contest entry
- The Real West by Haygood.
1750 points, ended November 13, 11 entries
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Comments
1 - 9 of 9
-
Touching...
A fitting adaptation. Cool under fire. Fear always has bad aim.
Howard
-
Very well done Mike I loved the read, keep that ink flowing my friend
-
-
Thank you very much for stopping by. This was based loosely on an actual event. The assalants fired wildly and the winner just took his time drew his gun and shot each one of them in their turn.
Mike
-
-
I like the theme...
but I have a problem with the whole thing. The gambler go off three shots before the gunfighter got off one. He was a cool cookie but if the gambler was any better, the gunfighter would be dead. You did give us suspence in the poem. It was like in slow motion. Thank you for the entry.
-
-
Thank you very much for reading and commenting. This is actually a composite of several true to life gunfights. There are many instances of people drawing and firing too quickly to be finished off by a better shot. I tried to illustrate this in the wild shooting of the gambler. It is not Hollywood, but it is truer to life.
Mike
-
-
Great write Chuckers..the ''powder igniting'' reference made me laugh and you know why lol I'll never forget that story hehe. (does it still burn) lmao Oops, I got off track
Anyway...I like it! Best of luck in the contest.
P.S. Remember no gun powder this winter ok?
-
-
Thank you very much for reading and commenting on my work. I am glad you liked the poem. No gunpowder....
-
-
well that is just about as real at it gets all right......
-
-
Thanks. I wanted to write a detailed vignette without all the history behind it. I leave that up to the imagination of the reader.
Mike
-
Adding your comment:
1 - 9 of 9
