Straight Shooter
 
Somebody said to shoot first and ask questions later.
Draw as a last resort, only when life is threatened,
then shoot to kill.
Prevailing wisdom says take them hard and fast.
 
Which is okay in the daylight--
the sun gives the world hard edges,
like the lines in a kid's coloring book.
At night, things get kinda gray in spots.
Shadows, y'know?
Lots of shadows.
 
So, you play it fast and loose.
You take your finger off the trigger
and you try to look past the gray spots.
You play the percentages.
 
You count on instinct to get you through.
'Cause if you shoot too soon,
if you make a mistake in the gray spots,
you can get hurt.  Bad.
Or you can hurt someone else.  Worse.
 
You gotta know when to push.
You gotta know when to talk.
You gotta know when to let it slide.
And about the questions--
you're supposed to shoot first, right?
 
Hell, I never <was> much of a shot . . . .
 
 
Susan M. Garrett
susang@vitinc.com
 
"I've seen a writing on the wall I must defend
and who stands tall beside me may not be my friend."
Within These Walls--Richard Barone