Howdy neighbour

This is the last picture show
         the sense that nothing
will ever be the same
         because nothing
ever is the same
         Walking down Main Street
at high noon
         a saloon brawl between
two hoodlums is celebrated
         with a public shootout
violence has become
         an entertainment
death simply a denouement
         Heat and dust in the nostrils
Here we discover
         that we are history
the implements of our childhood
         there on exhibition
This is a town where
         clockwork really works
ritual delivered
         with a broad smile
You woudn’t need to be mad
         to live there
but it would help
         Heard about the place
in Dallas Forth Worth
         on the grapevine

John Lyons