Ode To Brian Denehy

by Ed Tato

i click the button
waiting just for you

your silverback shoulders,
menacing the screen,
your pearly whites
chewing on the boom mike,
your bowling-pin mitts
clanking off a goon's head

your sneer
disarms the punks
faster than a forearm to the throat
or a chop to the gun hand.
your smirk
is more dangerous than the bullet
that trims your sideburn.

Denehy,
I wouldn't tick you off like that

I know you smell like sweat and High Karate

nobody trusts you
and they shouldn't.
even your sweet heart characters are filthy brutes.

thug
union boss
cop private dick
general
good ol'boy;
they're all you.

you know where moma keeps the candy;
why daddy better watch his back.

tonight it's a ten-gallon hat
and a big belt buckle,
but you don't need those,
Denehy;
you're hung like a hippo,
reeking of charm and mischief.