Spin three times on a dime, with your left foot

Don’t make it two, or you go blind

Hands held high, call to the Giver

Then cross your heart and hope to die.

 —————0—————

Lyin’ Larry was layin’ in the alley

And the moon was low and the shadows long

And the clock struck twelve, then came along

The man that would be the last man Larry would ever see.

Larry broke bad, .38 in his hand

“Gimme yer dough” he says to the man

“Gimme yer watch, don’t make no moves, will ya,

I don’t really wanna haveta kill ya.”

But the man only chuckled, cracked his knuckles and spat.

His smile was grim as he took off his hat.

Tall and wide as a door, he threw a dime upon the floor

And did three sweet spins on his left shoe

Raised his hands high, mumbled something or two

And crossed himself where his heart should be at

And Lyin’ Larry died just like that.

        —————0—————     

There were only two things stoppin’ Smilin’ Joe Brown

From believing the bad, bad news:

Nothin’ could kill Lyin’ Larry, was one;

Nothin’ could kill Lyin’ Larry was two.

“There’s a voodoo comin’ at me!”

In the quiet he intoned.

“And it’s up to me and me alone

To draw the blood, and break the bone,

Blind the eye, and rob and stone

The one that does not bleed,

Who made the laugher cry,

Who walks between the here and then

Who takes the coin of blood and tries

To do a dance of death on my Lyin’ Larry’s soul?

I will conjure up his penance

He will die a shadow.”

        —————0—————

The waves that slapped the breakwall,

They were driven by the wind,

And the wind did howl

Like a demon with a wound,

And the wound opened up

And became a magic wand

A magic wand in the hand

Of Smilin’ Joe Brown.

 —————0—————

The Dancer With A Dime was steadily drawing closer

To Smilin’ Joe Brown, with a wand in his hand

In a spotlight safety zone

In a alley made of old stone

They proceeded to face each other to death.