BALLAD by Jeff Callaway

BALLAD by Jeff Callaway

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