"So when death comes it can only take part of you"

by Alan Catlin

If business improves
maybe he can afford
better perks, something
cooler than a ten dollar
customized t-shirt that
says, SHORT BLADE
on the front side and
STREET TESTED
NEIGHBORHOOD APPROVED
on the back, a sort of team
jersey for the lowest level
drug dealers, advertisements
for the self, no beat cop could
miss when it came time for
rounding up all the usual suspects
bust, a perk not nearly as flash
as the orange pimpmobile
emblazoned with Playboy decals
the just-out-of-his-teens
rival boss was using as his ride,
weapons of mass percussion
speakers pounding out a bass beat,
rattling windows for miles around
wherever he went, daring the punks
to empty their nines in his direction
if they could work up the nerve.