i believed her

a dozen years ago
I met a woman who owned
a gun.
it was pink.
it look like a giant
piece of gum
shaped into
a gun.
she said it was loaded.
I believed her.
not because she had an
alligator purse.
or snake skin boots, but
because she had
a look in her eye.
she had the look of someone
who knew about trouble,
and what to do if
it came her way. she told
me that no one
robs her mother's
liquor store when she's
around.
I believed that too.