Dedications

A Bomb Built in Hell
for Victor Chapin
It’s been a long wait, old friend. You went all-in and never got to cash the ticket, but I know you were never in it for the money. Not any of it. I’ll tell you all about it, soon enough. For now, I’ll have to settle for telling the truth: if it wasn’t for you, none of this would have happened.

The Life-Style Violent Juvenile
To Richard Soney Allen, the best face-to-face professional in the field of juvenile violence I have ever known, and to the residents and staff of Andros II (1972).

Flood
For
Victor Chapin
Yale Lee Mandel
Iberus Hacker (a.ka. Dan Marcum)
Wesley Everest
very different actors
who all left this junkyard of a planet
to work a better room

Strega
For Doc, who heard it all while he was down here.
For Mary Lou, who can hear it all now.
For Sam, who finally gave up his part–time job.
And for Bobby, who died trying.
Different paths to the same door

Blue Belle
For Abe, who I never met but have always known.
And for Nathan, who I knew.
Two pieces of the root.
Watching me from someplace above the junkyard.

Hard Candy
They don’t give medals on this planet
for courage in urban combat.
But there are silver stars shining in the sky
that the astronomers can’t explain.
ALMA HENRY
BESSIE MYRICK
MARY SPENCER

Blossom
FOR ANDREW MITCHELL
born: October 19, 1985
unearthed: September 6, 1989
you never had a good day on this earth
sleep now, child

Sacrifice
for
SHEBA
a warrior who fought blindness
until the last battle closed her eyes
if love would die along with death,
this life wouldn’t be so hard

Shella
for:
Doc Pomus
and
Iceberg Slim
truth, still shining
down

Another Chance to Get it Right
Claire Elise McSorley
August 7, 2002
pure summer blossom
tiny life-spark, sudden frost
waiting for full bloom

Born Bad
Tortured far apart
Children of the Secret are
Alone until love

Down in the Zero
When winter vanished
I searched, only to find you
Missing and presumed

Batman: The Ultimate Evil
this is for all the
Children of the Secret

Footsteps of the Hawk
for Baby Boy E…
You took Death all the way through the last round.
And got jobbed by the judges.
Again.
No more fixed fights for you, little warrior.
Now it’s—finally—time to play.

False Allegations
for Ken Saro–Wiwa
a warrior, murdered by jackals
whose voice, unstilled
scars their dishonor into our souls
marking our path

Hard Looks
For the indomitable Jack Olsen (July 7, 1925 – July 16, 2002), who spent his life taking long, hard looks … and reporting back to the rest of us. I’ll see you soon enough, old friend.

Safe House
for the grief we have harvested
from the evil you have sown
jackals will forever call you coward
and vultures refuse your bones

—family curse

Choice of Evil

for Richard Soney Allen
uncaged, finally
and for
Leslie Haines
who hauled the weight until she saw the sun, finally

Everybody Pays
CCU/1

Dead and Gone
for Alicia Jimenez:
jibara, abused child, migrant laborer, garment-district
worker, defender of her family, protector of her neighborhood, savior of damaged creatures, nurturer of a revolution, mother to my brother . . . heroine.
all your days on this earth were without rest. always you
waited for it to be your time. always waited in vain.
and now you wait for us.
en nuestros corazones nada ha cambiado. serás adorada y
respetada para siempre. trabajaremos sin descanso para que te sientas orgullosa de nosotros.
espera pacientemente, Mamá. pronto será como antes fue,
todos juntos.
pero sin dolor.

Pain Management
for Skot Travis
defender of every child
but himself. manager of
everyone’s pain but his own.
a warrior who finally fell.
down in the Zero, still searching.
give Pansy a marrow bone for me, partner.

Only Child
Jennifer Lynne Conti Dermody
4/7/76–4/7/02
loved always, loved forever

The Getaway Man
for . . .
Cammi, Jessie Lee, Johnny the Gambler, Detroit B.,
Bust-Out Victor, Iberus, J.R., Everett, Water Street,
the East Gary Express, the Uptown Community Organization,
a whole lot of back roads, and some wrong turns.
and for . . .
Jim Procter, who drove the car.

Down Here
for . . .
Michael E. Kotler
who rules,
finally.

Two Trains Running
For my mother and my father
who are as one
always

Mask Market
for . . .
Eddie Adams, who risked his life to show us the truth;
Joe LaMonte, who finally found his way to the door;
Eddie Little, who fell off the Horse no man can ride forever;
Rex Miller, who told it big;
Son Seals, who left to work a better room;
and for . . .
Steve: childhood pal, crime partner, lover of science, doomed boy.

Terminal
for . . .
Judith Moore,
who used her sweet, soft heart to break the cruelest of all chains.
You were never a fat girl to me, beautiful.

Another Life
for Pam

Haiku
for…
Anna Politkovskaya
Born: August 30, 1958
Profession: Investigative Journalist
Assassinated: October 7, 2006
Legacy: The Immortality of Truth

The Weight
Mom:

I know you couldn’t wait any longer to be with Dad, but don’t fret—I’ll be with you both soon enough. I’ve got a few things to take care of first.

Yeah, I know . . . I always did.

And you know . . . I always will.

Blackjack: A Cross Novel
for Georg Schmidt

    husband to the lovely Sibylle, sire of The Mighty Nicolas
    the first (and finest) translator of my books into German

          You went out on your shield
          a warrior to the end
          I expected nothing less

          And I’ll see you soon enough, old friend

Mortal Lock

for Sonny…

You left too quick for us to say goodbye, brother. Hell, you left too quick, period. But you also left a stunning legacy. I’m still listening and learning. And always will be. Next time we meet, we’ll both be able to smoke. And maybe even roll down 104, in that Police Auction Special.

Aftershock

for…
Gale, who battled incoming her entire life, never took a backward step, and was cut down way too soon.

When I came to the place we always meet, you were already gone. I miss you, girl. You always knew I understood, without a word exchanged.

Keep watch, now!

Urban Renewal

for Grizzly…

I wish I had known sooner
I wish I could have done something
By the time I did, already too late, I know
But I can still hear you, brother
Breathing out that gasoline mist
That always awaits my flamethrower
For structures that should have been condemned

Shockwave

for Maggie

Patience wasn’t your specialty—you never could wait;
not for anything. Always driving so hard on teardrop–
slicked roads, keeping your eyes closed so you couldn’t
see what was coming. Until you ran off the edge. Now
we’ll never get that chance for me to show you how
real horses—not those stick–legged Thoroughbreds
you gave your heart to—duke it out. The next one Big
Syd wins at Cal–X, that’s for you. We’ll watch that
together…both of us long–distance.

Signwave

for…

DETECTIVE TOM WOODS
Who walked his last Vertical Patrol
to the topmost floor

Drawing Dead

for…

T.T.
who beats the odds to death

Carbon

For my brothers
  Ramón and Olaf
     Once blazing on two different sides of our earth,
                 now suns together in the same sky.