he strolled into the gym
after a year away & said
he’d seen some shit we couldn’t fathom
done some shit he’d take to his grave
But Amen liked to talk a lot
said he once knocked out Pacquiao
over a parking spot
pow! pow!
yeah, Amen had imagination
& a theme song that went:
You better say amen
cross yourself or something
better say amen
You better say amen
when you see me coming
better say amen
Said he spent the spring in Mexico
boxing bare knuckle
in Quintana Roo sunshine
in makeshift, open-air casinos
between corrido singers & cockfights
Amen was on a winning streak
‘til he woke up drunk cuddling a married chica
ay!
killed the husband in a kitchen fistfight
then crossed the border whistling:
You better say amen
when you see me coming
better say amen
Said her husband was some cartel goon
connected in the States
with mad cousins prowling town
so Amen kept a loaded Magnum
in his gym bag under tangled handwraps
One day, from the locker room
everybody in the building
heard a thunderfucking
BOOM
& there’s Amen in a piss-soaked jockstrap
on the floor, whispering:
You better say amen
when you see me coming
better say amen.
He claims it was intentional
he fired off a shot
to hype himself up (“I’m TOO raw”)
you could hear his myth asphyxiating
hairlines in his tenor, cracking
That afternoon he sparred a high school kid
the rookie lit him up, split his lip
& made him quit
That was the last I saw of Amen
but every now & then I sing:
You better say amen
when you see me coming
better say amen.