By John RC Potter

The man under the mask…

You rode along the dusty western street,
as you strode hard across my laptop screen,
strutting and preening like a proud peacock;
dark, mysterious, maybe even mean,
perhaps dangerous, a badass cowboy,
but the handsomest dude I’d ever seen.

Who’s this charismatic man in shadows?
What’s under his mask and within his mind?
Where’s the distant place he used to call home?
When will he take off that mask, if ever?
Why’s he afraid to show his hidden face?

He may even have come fresh from a kill,
or been found with his fingers in the till,
rising like a Phoenix, our man Orville.
He may even have stacked the dealer’s deck,
or have a knotted noose around his neck,
yet creating his legend, our Mr. Peck.

The mask under the man…