His gait was like his drawl
Slowly dragging itself
In determined lazy strides
Across dusty gritty asphalt
His glance forever chilling
Darkness behind grey hues
Always focused down the road
Beneath his haunted watch
True blackness revealed only
For those unlucky enough to catch his stare
Rusted red hands against well worn skin
Five o’clock lost in its shadow
Rough and darkened stubble
Jaw line striking out from weathered neck
Long and lean silhouette
Casts himself unnoticed in the crowd
They only see what they want to see
And the ones that would court danger
End up muddied by this stranger
In shallow abandoned nightmares
Reaching up to claw their way out
From slippery tombs below
Their last moments of sight
Catch only his shadow as he strides away