Madness and Women
Stories
Poetry
the private eye
he was homeless and living on the streets of new york city.
he had enough money for a theater ticket and watched a film noir crime drama from the 1940’s.
those types of movies were moody and cynical and dealt with the dark side of human nature.
most of the scenes took place at night in the fog and rain.
the private eye narrated his thoughts in between the action scenes.
he'd solve the case and often the girl asked if he was interested but he'd always turn her down.
there was no room for her in his world of danger and women and whiskey.
he never knew what would happen next.
he had to stay tough and cynical to survive in his world.
______
after the movie he sat in a deserted bus station.
he thought about sarah and how he turned her down.
she was a normal girl and wanted a permanent relationship with him.
he didn't want her to find out the true nature of his condition and ran away in the middle of the night.
_____
he decided to change the bus station into his own private eye office.
it was located high above in a manhattan corporate building.
he turned the lights out and everything in the room dissolved into shadows.
it was three a.m. and raining.
there was a knock and sarah let herself in.
she had to see him one last time.
she wanted a life with him but he turned her down.
she promised to help him find the best sanitarium and the best doctors and she would never leave his side until he got better.
he told her it didn't work like that.
there was no room for her in his world of madness and women and alcohol.
he never knew what would happen next.
the lightning flashed and he saw the tears streaming down her face.
it went dark and she walked out the door.
_____
he looked down below and saw the headlights cutting through the fog and mist.
it killed him to hit her point-blank like that.
he had to stay tough and cynical to survive in his world.