The Devil With a Gun

He rode a crooked path across the plains, and started young
Fifteen years old, he robbed a widow with a stolen gun
He rustled cattle, hijacked trains, kidnapped a banker’s child
He killed a missionary priest and left his church defiled

There weren’t laws enough that he could say he hadn’t broken
With fear and anger, people cursed his name when it was spoken
Lawmen far and wide gave chase, then by and by they’d quit
His luck and daring more than they could counter, they’d admit

With each new wicked episode and cunning getaway
He’d ride a stolen horse to find some hideout place to stay
Some town where still his infamy had yet to stake its claim
The signpost, worn and weathered, said “Diablo” was its name

His horse tied to a hitching rail, he scanned the dusty street
No wanted posters - just the place to hide out from the heat
A dark and airless barroom in Diablo’s lone hotel
Betrayed a vile aspect and a burning brimstone smell

He bought a bottle from the bar, and gravitated towards
A sleepy poker game with four nobodies tossing cards
He anted up and drew his hand and studied all their faces
As his cards revealed triple queens beside a pair of aces

He bet ‘em big, “I’ll play these”, he knocked his turn to draw
And pushed five Stella golds to the pot, the players all in awe
Three chumps threw in their hands, no taste for such a daunting bid
The fourth replied, “You’re called”, and ponied up to match the Kid

“Too bad for you”, he flipped his cards, “Full house.”, and grabbed the money
But the caller said, “That pot is mine - I’m holding four jacks, sonny.”
“You thievin’ cheat! You stacked the deck - there ain’t no way you beat me!”
And shot him dead right where he sat, “No hayseed’s gonna cheat me!”

The bar cleared out, the gamblers fled, the barkeep led the way
The gunman grabbed his ill-got gains, no one to call his play
Except, back in a corner, in shadow dark as night
A lone spectator, dressed in black, set his cigar alight

“You waitin’ for some action, or just too scared to run?”
The Kid addressed the specter, as he lowered his smoking gun
An eerie silence wracked his nerve, his heart beat fast and thin
The rancid smoke from the cigar? … or from the stranger’s skin?

Then slowly, two eyes glowing red beneath a Stetson’s brim, 
The spectral witness crooked a finger, grimly beckoned him
“Draw near and your attention give this gamble I propose.”
The fiend gave off a profane heat; smoke eddied from his clothes

“When evil, left unchecked, in course of time meets evil greater,
“There needs to be a reckoning - a duel - sooner or later
“Your murd’rous ways have brought you to this curséd place and time
“This day you’ll meet your fate; you’ve nowhere else to run and hide”

Old Lucifer himself sat there, assumed of human shape
The Kid, struck dumb in horror, could do nothing more than gape
“You’ll have the chance to see tomorrow morning’s rising sun
“But first you’ll have to duel against the Devil with a gun.”

“You’ll walk with me out to the street”, he told the Kid, “… and there
“You’ll have a chance to walk away from a duel, fair and square
“But first, you’ll have to draw and fire before I shoot you dead
“And if you fire and miss, I’ll claim your mortal soul instead.”

The Kid, his innards cold with fright, said softly, “Pass me by,
“I’ll saddle up and leave this place - I have no wish to die
“Life on the run’s my punishment for doing what I done
“My soul ain’t worth your time”, he told the Devil with the gun

Beelzebub swept back his cloak, a pistol on his hip
A wicked laugh escaped his throat and curled his ghastly lip
“You rode into this living hell and killed a man for sport
“It’s not a choice I’ve offered you - your time is running short”

“Sundown is just an hour away. It’s time to face your fate.”
The Devil nodded towards the door, The Kid replied, “But wait …
“Can mortal man destroy the Prince of Darkness with a shot?
“If you’re immortal - bullet-proof - then what chance have I got?”

The Devil laughed again and offered, “Kid, you beat my draw
“And mortally wound this human form, then surely, I’ll withdraw
“You’ll walk away and leave a lifeless body in the street
“Your evil to continue ‘til on Judgment Day we meet”

The Devil laid the ground rules for the deadly game of chance
“Back-to-back we stand.  When I count ‘one’, we both advance
“And step another pace each time until I’ve counted ‘five’
“Then turn and take your shot, and may the fastest gun survive”

On “one’ the gunmen stepped apart; on “two”, another stride,
To then proceed with “three” and “four”, the same on either side
But Satan did not plan to give the Kid a chance - the liar!
He turned before he got to “five”, and pulled his gun to fire

But as the Devil pivoted - a flash! - a shot’s report!
And through his wicked skull a .45 bullet bored
No way the Kid would trust the Prince of Darkness or his word
He turned at “three” and fired, and dropped the demon in the dirt

The smoking lifeless body that his deadly shot had claimed
Smoldered for a moment, then burst into blue-green flame
The last remains of Satan, brought forth in human shape
A mound of ashes only, nothing left of hat and cape

Though darkness now descended on the town, the Kid ran scared
He lashed his horse into the night; few people saw or cared
But witnesses - the few who hung around to see him run -
Would swear they’d watched the getaway of the Devil with a gun.

*Originally published at Academy of the Heart and Mind