Kara met Kane

one frozen friday night

on Sixth Street in the rain

standing outside of a poolhall

called The Ritz

in wait of a taxi in vain

mixed drinks raced through her brain

like foredoomed freight trains

on a night out with the girls gone insane

with Penny and Jenny and Jane

singing a bluesy refrain

under the Austin, Texas skyline i love

lit all glowing with golden and gray

as life came into focus

the very first time

that Kara laid eyes

on Kane…

 

to hallucinate

through her mind’s eye

in utter disbelief

the sweetest vision of her future husband

in a white wedding day dream

all of this could be seen

all this marital scenery

with heart shaped candy eruptions

coming right up out of Sixth Street

as Kara conceived

their very own children

like bleached ivory babies

tied to honeymoon balloons

by umbilical strings

with a lifetime of fond memories

as Al Green sings

a two story pink

house with a big red door

and a gold two karat diamond ring

and all of this in just one moment

Kara did magically see

that Kane was the man of her dreams…

 

back into reality

where he stood outside of a pizza place

just a few feet further down the street

wearing a black leather jacket

and smoking a Swisher Sweet

you could smell the pepperoni

you could smell the anchovies

under the pizzaria awning

drinking a Pepsi

eating thick slices of three cheese

on that drunken misty late friday night

when Kara and Kane

did meet…

 

skin is symphony

and sugar is sweet

so they made love for six straight weeks

and i swear

you could see it both of their eyes

that never ever in their lives

had they ever felt

oh so alive

and it’s so nice

when life is like a surprise

when love is an effortless sacrifice

you pay the price

sometimes

for the flesh inside the thighs to flush

Kara and Kane became addicted to that rush

to the injection of just a touch

you can never get enough

one night they had sex on a city bus

Kara went wild as Kane blushed

’cause adrenaline is a drug

and so the next night they bought some guns

and just for fun

they robbed a bank

and went on the run

and it’s all big fun

until the Austin Police come

run Kara and Kane run

’cause The Man is going to want some

blood

and when the levee breaks

here comes the

flood…

 

but first

let me remember her

the way she was

raven haired child of the sun

with creulean eyes

and i can’t lie

even i fantasized

her hyacinth hips hypnotized

her lavender lips never lied

she would’ve made a fine poet’s bride

she was a vixen with verve and her vibrant vibe

she was Venus in a velum of vice

and i’ll never forget what she told me this one night

that everyday is like

the highdive

so you might as well

jump…

 

north

on Lamar

in Kane’s ‘65 GTO

with the motor roaring and raring to go

they left a blue flame

all the way back to the Colorado

a wake of squad cars, sirens

red and blue lights all a glow

you could here Kara’s .45 Taurus unload

her bullets blazed out the passenger side window

a cop car hit the ditch

another cop car rolled

one cruiser even ran into

a telephone pole

a mushroom cloud of fire explodes

go Kara and Kane go

leave rubber on the road

just like life is the last picture show

around curves

and over hills

over long winding roads

go…

 

up

atop

majestic

Mount Bonnell

wher mocking birds dwell

as legend tells

of an Amerind princess

and her lover who once fell

from their very own romantic hell

up above a vista view

of such a wide expanse

of both time and land

and from that same mythic peak

so mystic and grand

with gun in hand

Kara and Kane prepared to make

their final stand

even though they knew that

The Man had the upper hand

they still had a plan

and so as long as they had those cops out ran

and as they waited for the police to arrive

they made sweet love on that mountain side

as if they had not a thing to hide

from this cruel world

or that night sky

and as the sirens began to wail and cry nearby

as they stood naked surrounded by sky

on that rocky precipice

Kara gave Kane just one last kiss

at the approach of those

combat booted feet

hand in hand

in one lover’s leap

they did jump

down.

 

© Jeff Callaway