Outlaw Poem

 Outlaw Poem

by Graham Swanson

I will protect you from people who mean you ill-

for I am one of them.

I can protect you from the police for I know all their tricks. 

I can recognize the scammers, the hustlers, the eels. I've seen them before.

I'm not afraid of the gangs. I recognize who they are. 

Stand back, good man, for I will take the mantle. I will fight them for you, and overcome as I've overcome many foemen. 

Be cool, say nothing, draw no attention, trust no one; I've got a bullet in the chamber for every man. 

I fear no man.

I give my heart to the maidens. 

The Vikings did it, so will I follow. 

I slay with my big knife. Your best soldiers have already failed. Your most powerful weapons are destroyed. 

Don't step up to me, you'll lose your honor.

Don't pick a fight with the defiant, you'll never be redeemed. 

Don't mess with me, I know how to take what you love apart.

You can't kill my friends, they are all ghosts.

I'm sick. It's a sickness. The world is infected with it, and I caught it. 

The witch hunter  tells me that mortals can't face demons without becoming one.

Hope tells me that he wants to accompany me so that we may understand, not hate, those who would cause us harm. 

I am at the boundaries. Unleash me when you want, and with haste I will chase down trespassers.