Unspoken

Unspoken

            -for “Bob Roberston”

A fistful of words

slipped through their fingers, never

to reach the others.

Who is this man, this Stranger

who played both sides for money?

A pocketwatch chimes

as Mortimer, and Manco

and El Indio

wait for the finish—the start

of the silence which will chime.

Just a name would do,

but he is Blondie, and now

Angel Eyes, Tuco,

and he face off, a fifteen

minute Mexican standoff.