Allan Winans
The Wrong Side of Town
cop’s flashlight intruding on my thoughts
nightstick rapping on my window
demanding to know what I’m doing out
at this ungodly hour
ordered out of car frisked
and taken downtown for questioning
police suspicious why a white boy
would be listening to a tape
of a black musician
in a respectable part of town
Saturday Night Special
No need to go out to a movie
More than enough action right
Here at home
Sirens wailing in the night
Police helicopter circling above
Searchlight igniting the sky
Shadow like figure leaps over fence
Like a skilled track hurdler
Dogs barking faces peering out the window
Neighbors hugging the night air
Like a chilled lover shivering
In anticipation
Intruder frozen in spotlight
Drops flat to the ground
Looking like a dead man
Laid out beneath a sea of stars
