[RedM]: Outlaw's Lament - 2
Rabbit
I always wondered why She wanted to be called Rabbit. A rabbit is a beast quick and small, Scared and scampering They cower in their burrows At the fox's call. Rabbit was close as a sister Quick and small. She laughed easily and loved warmly But she was no simpering thing-- Not normally Not at all. On a job her eyes burned With grinning, wildfire squall, And her knuckles were always stained with blood from her last brawl. Rabbit was the gunpowder spark As much a weapon herself as any of the guns she'd fashioned-- Between her two hands She held control of her future, impassioned. Prowling the grasslands Like her father before her, She was an Outlaw. His legacy in her hands, Fire and gunsmoke commanded her awe. I always wondered why She wanted to be called Rabbit. Maybe the simple answer is that it was shorter than (Hare)-trigger. She was no rifle, no weapon of precision She was a shotgun-- deadly in her decision. Her ire was corrosive, Her temper explosive. Highly effective Given any directive, But dangerous So dangerous To anything Caught by accident In the blast. For months they plastered her face Across the walls of our hometown To be honest, I think she enjoyed the chase Until people started going down. Bloody enforcer, my sweet sister How hard we tried to save you. How we struggled and fought, Our decisions questionable-- How much chaos and strife we brought Only to stave off the inevitable. I saw the toll it took on you To see us hurt, broken, and beat To see what we were willing to go through How we were willing to take the heat. I don't know if I ever forgave you For what you did The blast I was caught in But I'd still have done anything to save you Without a second thought or whim. Dearest Rabbit, At last caught and ensnared As you walked the steps up the gallows They led us in chains and forced us to stare. There was never any other end for you. For a life built on brutality. The grave had been dug long ago The day you adopted your father's morality. But it was only as you faced your death That I think you saw death's finality Your last words ring in my mind As you faced the abyss The way you suddenly struggled and cried out, "Wait, no-- I don't want this!" ...Sweetest sister How I've missed her In the time that's passed since. You had faces you only showed to some And some you showed to none I always wondered why You wanted to be called Rabbit. But perhaps the simple answer is That deep down, you were one. ...it just wasn't foxes You were running from.