He lost his face in a poker game

He was betting on a dance with the girl

Hanging around the table in the shadows

She stood behind the man in the red hat

She danced with him afterwards

On the street in the air, thick

With smoke and moral ambiguity

She smoked when they sat on the sidewalk

Blowing her stories at him through

Pursed lips, blood colored

He nodded along

He took her home that night

The man in the red hat got so drunk

He forgot she'd been there in his shadow

She kissed him, alcohol meeting

Cigarette smoke in comfortable darkness

Where secrets go to die

He held her like he was taught to

He woke up the next morning

Blood red lipstick smeared on his chest

And the burning smell of smoke

He got up, a little lesser

The dirty mirror empty

As he dressed, old jacket

Leather shoes, and that green tie

He closed the door