ARIA III: THE BADMAN

Of course I keep two wives, one East, one West,

One for the devil's dance and one for the devil's evil.

Bigamist, Badman, whatever my name,

Black Jack I am, I am Black Jack, the same

Rack of a man my father was, a gun

Quick to unload at anyone, a long brag

Of a boy with a girlish face, hands

Ice, lip acurl, a cruel snarl, a curse

Unstrung from my cradle, a marked

Card, a fancy, dandy Jack-in-the-Box, I

Am always twenty-one, I deal the cards, I

Always win, showdown, one-eyed

Jack dealt from below or from up the sleeve,

A fourletterword scratched on a privy wall,

I make you do the things you do

You want to forget, over and over again.

Gunslinger, I lay them all in the dust

And travel. From Cleveland now, to Santa Fe,

Motorcycle motor athrob between my legs,

I race to overtake and undertake The Cowboy,

That chaste man, bride for my silver bullets.