Heart of gold under a chain of gold
lying on his sweaty white wife-beater.
Gang life behind him, twenty dollar
yard work and some dealin 
kept the rotting red shack
taped around parents, wife, dogs, stray kittens.
Missing teeth and shouting matches in the 
midnight street, behind an easy smile. 

A Christmas card, illegible scratching with
a pen, a gold cross in a tattered gift box
contained only a little blood.