From the dark out of the shadows <br />in the night the stranger came <br />he walked slowly he walked tall <br />his coat glistened in the rain <br /> <br />You could hear his spurs a jingle <br />as he came out of the gloom <br />now and then his guns would sparkle <br />as they caught light from the moon <br /> <br />You could barely catch his features <br />rough and rugged they may be <br />this was not some old time cowboy <br />this was trouble plain to see <br /> <br />To the bar his shadow followed <br />all went quiet when he stepped in <br />dancing girls soon ran for cover <br />he just gave the slightest grin <br /> <br />'Barman serve me up some whisky <br />tell me if this place is hell <br />for all I find are thieves and killers <br />where good people used to dwell'. <br /> <br />In a voice that barely whispered <br />chewing on an old cigar <br />the stranger told of how some cowboys <br />murdered down his ma and pa <br /> <br />'They lived quiet on a homestead <br />God fearing folk as was back then <br />but they had their lives a taken <br />when I was but barely ten'. <br /> <br />'I have searched and I have tarried <br />through the mountains and the plains <br />looking for the dirty killers <br />who took away my fathers name'. <br /> <br />'Now I know they're in here somwhere <br />and I'll tell you there's a few <br />and I'm gonna have to kill them <br />as I promised I would do'. <br /> <br />The bar was getting mighty restless <br />people rushed out to the street <br />the stranger turned and looked round slowly <br />as four men got to their feet <br /> <br />In a flash but like slow motion <br />both guns blazing from the hip <br />the stranger took them fast and clean <br />I've never seen a gun so quick <br /> <br />From upstairs he heard a creaking <br />the stranger smiled and drew once more <br />and slowly aiming at the target <br />shot a fifth man through the floor <br /> <br />Chewing on an old cigar <br />the stranger walked out of the room <br />the last I saw was just a shadow <br />fading out into the gloom.<br /><br />Charles M. Moore<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-stranger-3/
