I will freely admit I have never watched The Godfather saga or John Wick, or read Mickey Spillane or Mike Hammer. My genre of choice is science fiction, and the occasional fantasy novel or movie.
Today I came upon a new-to-me word: Runyonesque, which means “reminiscent of the colorful characters, slang-filled dialogue, and Broadway underworld settings found in the writings of Damon Runyon”
I had not heard of this author except for his most well known work “Guys and Dolls,” which I have never read nor watched.
Wiktionary says Damon Runyon (1880–1946) [was an] American newspaperman and writer, best known for his short stories celebrating the world of Broadway in New York City that grew out of the Prohibition era.
BIOGRAPHY
from Wikipedia
When still in his teens, Runyon enlisted in the US Army to fight in the Spanish–American War. While in the service, he was assigned to write for the Manila Freedom and Soldier's Letter.
After his military service Runyon worked for several newspapers, first in Colorado and then in New York City
In New York he covered the New York Giants and professional boxing for the New York American.
He was the Hearst newspapers'baseball columnist for many years, beginning in 1911, and his knack for spotting the eccentric and the unusual, on the field or in the stands, is credited with revolutionizing the way baseball was covered.
Runyon frequently contributed sports poems to the American on boxing and baseball themes and wrote numerous short stories and essays.
*****
Two short poems from Runyon’s book TENTS OF TROUBLE
BALLAD OF LONELY GRAVES
OH, whether they stand in a desert plain or the
heart of a silent wood
The winds they sing to the lonely graves and the sun
and the stars are good;
And they tell no tales of a wrongful life, but they speak
in a restful way
And the men in the lonely graves sleep well awaiting the
judgment day.
No, no, the lonely graves don't speak, they lie in the
warming sun
And those who pass that way don't know the things
that the dead have done.
They can only look at the silent mounds that the patient
flowers attend
And muse, as I've mused at a thousand mounds: "Do
you rest well, my friend?"
For the world is seeded with lonely graves, and the
harvest at judgment day
Will be an army of unknown men who will wait in a
quiet way;
And when they turn to the Docket Clerk, and the rec-
ord of years defend
They'll whisper the names to Him low and say :
"Thanks for that rest, Our Friend!”
WHO GOES THIS WAY?
THERE astray;
HERE ain't a single reason why a man should go
There's about a million reasons why he shouldn't.
But who's a-huntin' Reason when ole Folly calls
66 Away? "
You needn't try to find it , 'cause you couldn't.
There is many an ' many a pathway w'ich is crooked as
a snake;
Likewise there's many a pathway w'ich is straight.
An' they has a lot of sameness, barrin' one is hedged
with tameness
When you clears yer ship beyond th ' Golden Gate!
*****
TENTS OF TROUBLE is available free in PDF at Google Books.
https://books.googleusercontent.com/books/content?req=AKW5QaebexQZOllzuPXWFO1U9AX7bEdos_2wUB30cd6-V652NzwFexRnleB7R2DC6s25iu6W4G5vWDFTxxRNdlhb-RXdIlB80oDsVMaJCv2x3YVnlWjLFvud7n26K_UH8pTAvwb15-nMdj_TJXCvGODJ81UOnLHDOwG5cGg2KU0vYUxJRMnkFZ8IVXS4A06CmGyve7h1s77lHGTHdowpnlFwcMUTfX8-fzQhH88vHYS6OkDoApaFupK8Jpfvj85Ftqt1_IxmR
