1. bonnie and clyde
---
homespun girl this goddess
of ivory and light rose
sweet gun moll poetess
married then left
abandoned and alone
talking pictures
flicker her favorites
silk stockings whisper
over her thigh’s tattoo
her meaty cigars
tindered by dainty hands
perfected lipstick
blows the wafting smoke
of blasted pistol ammo
away from her smile
jauntily skewed beret
hiding tight curls
strength versed in
odes and ballads
criss-crossed steel jackets
lame from burns
this bolero bandit
limping toward sundown
daggers of sunlit eyes
while money spoke
of kith and kin and
teller’s cages cold
strappy shoes rest
on the glint and gleam
of polished chrome
---
from an urban slum
a thief prison ex-con
adorable school-boy charm
double barreled arsenal
his suspenders under
a three piece suit
slick hair oiled back
perfect brylcreem coif
a dapper young man
with the deepest soul
pressed pants and
a revolver collection
struggling to eke
something out of a
depression nothing
browning automatic
prohibition speak easy
plays gershwin music
in a dust bowl
a triggerman’s grin
as he boosts her up
with one strong arm
handsome polished titan
smugly still alive
silk tie and fedora
living it up rich
smiles bold and brash
on a midwestern joyride
with sidearms blazing
barefoot on the pedal
of a stolen getaway car
---
lots together drawn
wash baths in cold creeks
robbing gas stations
mom-and-pop stores
national bank vaults
and kidnapped hostages
cold blooded killers
firepower chosen
lawmen lay dying amd dead
“the barrow’s gang” flee
sparking state lines
and newspaper rags to
list “dead body” rewards
may 23rd
1934
grim blood trail over
the lovers grinned
armed to defend
no time to hold hands
bullet-riddled daze
deluxe ford sedan
the shotguns weep
as svelte hips jived
to the bullet’s jazz
together dead corpses
a daylight ambush
poised and posed
ears ringing with shots
as the sheriff’s posse
deafened each other
emptied their arms
then gloated over
the pooling vitality
and failed lives of
bonnie and clyde