Entry #16

"Hoboken Haiku"
John McAuley


Bright part of dark sky,
open eye of a witnessing angel?
Forgive me for what I've done
in the shadow of an electric crucifix.

Dreck. Written while drunk after a job. Maybe I should stick to haiku. And teaching.

Teaching poetry part-time at Hoboken Community College barely keeps a roof over my head. But my side-job keeps a decent car in the garage and allows me time to write.

I would've done the last job for free though.

Somebody powerful was taking heat over the unacceptable activities of one of his "family" members.

I was the perfect outsider to clean things up.

It was easy. The target bought my story about having car problems and invited me into the house.
He was still staring at my chest when I shot him.

Tony Pallazio wouldn't be hustling any more twelve year old kids with booze, drugs and video games.

I set the house on fire when I left.

In the movie, "Unforgiven," Clint Eastwood's character ponders his motives for killing. The sky above him is dark on one side, bright on the other; with a gray, jagged strip in between.

I was thinking about that scene when I was settling up with the man who'd hired me.

"You did good. "

"Thanks," I said, handing him a note before taking the money.

Under Eastwood's sky;
Old house, dead end road of dirt,
Murder, justice, cash.

He laughed when he read it.

"Think I'll call you, ' The Haiku Hit Woman From Hoboken.'"