Bill Baber

WE DIDN'T KNOW

Danny was so sure
of his carefully drawn plan.
And even though I had doubts
since he had been away once before
I let him talk me into it.
He promised, "Nothing can go wrong
there's just one kid working
from six until they close."
He didn't know while that kid
was filling a bag with cash
the owner would come
from the backroom
pointing a double-barreled shotgun at us
or that I would shoot him dead.
We didn't know that a sheriff's deputy
would drive by at the exact moment
we ran into the night with
masks still covering our faces,
guns clutched in our hands.
I didn't know Danny would roll on me,
and I sure as hell didn't know
I'd land on death row for it.


Bill reads "We Didn't Know":



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Bill confesses: This poem was inspired by bad choices we all make and the people who sometimes talk us into them.

BILL BABER has had over two dozen crime stories published and his work has recently appeared in Rogue from Near to the Knuckle and Hardboiled Crime Scene from Dead Guns Press. He has also had a number of poems published online and in the occasional literary journal. A book of his poetry, Where the Wind Comes to Play was published by Berberis Press in 2011. He lives in Tucson with his wife and a spoiled dog and his been known to cross the border for a cold beer. He is working on his first novel.