Cloak and Dagger

[good4somethingbum]

Cloak and Dagger ©2013 Robert George BMI

I was standing by the ER…leanin’ on my broom
Keepin’ one eye on the TV in the waiting room
Action News at 6 replaced their crusty weatherman
With a gal that looked just like a busty Heather Graham
And she joked how sometimes full moons make folks seedier
And that night the moon’d cross paths with a meteor
Lotsa older nurses saw the bad signs in the sky
Later on they said that that was why
Tourists found that first dead body outside Fuddrucker’s

Were the killings fueled by grief ‘r sadness
Or what codgers still called “reefer madness”
Either way nobody cared about a local jeweler’s claim of missing silverware

By the witching hour streets became a smorgasbord
First they found a headless hooker in the 13th ward
I was helpin’ out and wheelin’ gurneys to the morgue
Took my iPhone out and looked up “Urban Myths.org”
Read a murky tale about an old man and a blonde
Some folks said she carried stakes…some said a magic wand
They were seen last summer near a boardwalk up the coast
They’d been called to hunt down ghouls n ghosts
And they rid that boardwalk town of undead bloodsuckers

And detectives here had been assumin’,
That the heinous murderer was human
But a coupla nurse’s aides with Creole in their blood though somethin’ else was in the air

Now the only witness was a drunken, hapless clown
When his blind date was dismembered in her strapless gown
Though he said the park was filled with phantom swirls of fog
Moonlight found the teeth belonging to a rabid dog
And although I don’t believe in too much hi-tone crap
I downloaded one cool urban legend iPhone app
And where lights are gallows and the ghostly shadows hang
Folks’d seen a beast with bloody fangs
And bats replaced the pigeons on the tops of skyscrapers

And I read some more and got to thinkin’
That the moonlight curse just might be Incan
And that any poor unlucky soul who felt its wicked bite and lived had best beware

In the darkened alleys that are strangers to the dawn
Cold, malignant spirits swim the night winds there to spawn
And a dealer counts his cash and climbs a fire escape
Where the shadow on his shoulder has a monstrous shape
As he ducked in through his window he could feel its breath
Then its lupine jaws released a pulsing creek of death
Then the four winds ate their fill of hundred dollar bills
And his chalky skin began to chill
And his corpse’s sticky blood became like flypaper

And his dank apartment was a pig pen
But his Rolex was a ghetto Big Ben
Cos it doesn’t matter where you’re staying just how good you look while staying there

When my shift was through I took a foolish shortcut home
I heard growlin’ and my flesh bid farewell to my bones
Then a blonde girl darted from behind a stack of crates
And she wore a scarlet cloak and wielded silver blades
And an old man watched behind a dumpster near the street
As a beast approached whose fangs were red with blood and meat
Then the old man kicked a can and caught the monster’s eye
As the blonde girl yelled a warning cry
We both saw the demon bite the old man’s right shoulder

Then she stabbed it with her silver dagger
And the creature howled in rage and staggered
Then it lay down and transformed into a naked man whose death restored a peaceful stare

Well, the old man’s bloody hat blew down the alleyway
As the blonde girl knelt beside her mentor where he lay
As she held his head he made a quiet last request
Then she kissed his cheek and sank her dagger in his chest
Someone heard the noise and wailing sirens bit the night
She sat on some boxes and I stood there by her side
When the lawmen and the coroner had fin’lly gone
Her gold hair was like a sister to the dawn
Yet her teardrops seem to make the morning light colder

And my whole life seemed to lose its meaning
As if I’d been wasting time and dreaming
While this young girl and her teacher had been doing what no other souls would ever dare

So I treated her to breakfast at a donut shop
Then when went downtown and answered questions for the cops
And she just smiled pretty…acting clueless, dumb and vague
While I knew she’d saved the city from a mystic plague
We were there awhile and thought they questioned her at length
They were lookin’ for a killer with inhuman strength
Then we took an evening trolley to her rented room
And the night felt safer from the moon
As we sat for hours and we had a heartfelt chat

And the blonde girl said her name was Bonnie
And a duty was conferred upon me
As I realized the young girl’s lonely mission was a fate that I’d been called to share

Come the dawn I quit my job and then we made two last stops
First she spent some money at a vintage clothing shop
Then we took a silent cab ride out to Potter’s Field
Where a cheap pine box made sure the old man’s time was sealed
Well, we got there right before the lid was hammered on
And they let poor Bonnie say a prayer and read a Psalm
But an old caretaker said it was unorthodox
When she opened up a fancy box
Wiped a tear and then took out a brand new dark felt hat

He had been her savior and her teacher
He was holy although not a preacher
And she hoped it wouldn’t matter where he’s staying just how good he looked while staying there

[good4somethingbum]

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