Bleeding Out

With just ninety seconds to live

    He decided that he better change

Yes, with it all coming to an abrupt end 

    He realized he needed to stop playing pretend

And start really living 

    His belly was cut open

A knife had been in it a few minutes ago

   And the blood was flowing out onto the street 

He was grabbing at his stomach

    Holding in as much as he could

It was dark and cold outside of the bar

    There wasn’t a single star in the sky

There was only clouds and rain up there

    He watched his blood get washed away by the rain

A lady had bumped into him, spilling her drink on herself

    Her boyfriend

Came to her rescue by getting in the face of the man

   He was yelling at him, screaming profanities

And the man calmly suggested that they step outside

   “Settle it like men,”

That’s really what he said

    So they stepped out into the cold, dark night 

With the lady hysterically cheering on her man

   They fought with their fist

And the man was a pretty slick boxer

    He was smiling and laughing, toying with the boyfriend

Landing jabs at will

   Setting up his cross

Dancing and showboating in the street

   “C’mon Devin! Get your ass up!” his lady called out. 

Devin got up, wiped some blood away from his nose, and pulled out a knife 

    The man knew what he should do

He knew that even if you are slick boxer, if a man with a knife comes out you, you should run

    Yes, he knew that

But on this night

    We was feeling extra cocky

Probably from the tequila shots ten minutes before

    Fist can’t beat a knife

They just can’t

   It’s not like it is in the movies

It’s really not

 Devin rushed him

And the man used his boxing footwork to pivot

   But this time

When he went to counter

   Devin sliced at the wrist and arms

Cutting him open

    He’s really trying to kill me now

How fun

   That’s what he thought

He really did think that

   He has a couple screws loose

That’s why now

   As he quickly bleeds out on the street

He knows for sure that he needs to change

   Probably get some mental help or something

He looked at the cuts on his arm with fascination

   And then he looked at Devin

The man was also covered in blood

   With his face swollen and bruised

His right eye was almost swollen shut 

    “Get that sonofabitch, Devin! Get him!”

The man had decided that he would shoot for a double leg take down and try to disarm Devin

  So he faked the jap to raise the man's arms up to defend it

And went in for the takedown

   He managed to get his hands locked behind Devin’s hip

And pick him up and slammed him hard on the pavement

   Devin’s head had hit the ground and bounced of it

He was knocked out cold

   The man searched for the knife that had been in his attackers hand a second ago

But he couldn’t find it anywhere

   The girlfriend let out a horrible scream

The street lights flickered

   And a cold wind came bursting through

Where’s that damn knife?? 

   It was just in his right hand

Where is it??

   He stood up and looked around

But he stumbled when he stood up, feeling lightheaded

    And then he felt the pain in his belly for the first time

The man’s knife was sticking out of it 

    “Oh,” he said.

He stumbled backwards

    “This is going to hurt.”

He reached down and grabbed the handle of the knife

   And in one swift motion

He pulled it out

   He moaned in pain

And in that moment 

   He decided to change

So

  He did

For the last ninety seconds of his life

   He was a little different.

And that’s how he wound up bleeding out in this street outside of a shitty dive bar in his hometown.

CH 12/16/24