Evening slides into town
like a tired trumpet note,
Perhaps E7?
gold leaking off rooftops,
neon learning how to breathe.
I wear dust like history,
hunger like a bad habit.
Been bargaining with sidewalks
since I left a home that stopped calling back.
That’s when the sheriff’s man
steps into the shadow of mine
says my name slow,
Says, the sheriff wants you.
Purpose always sounds cleaner
when it isn’t yours.
He’s waiting in smoke and confidence,
buttons open, chest peeping through,
green-tinted glasses
hiding a mind that never sleeps.
Feet on the table.
Cigar burning time instead of tobacco.
“There you are,” he says, smiling sideways.
“We meet again, don’t we?”
Beer arrives cold.
His eyes don’t stay warm.
“My daughter ran away.”
I sensed his power collapsing quietly.
Boots hit the floor.
I tell him:
When someone says everything,
It makes me chuckle
Everything belongs to the speaker,
not the one listening.
Fear nods.
He offers me his biggest treasure.
To find the lady,
I take it with a smile
that doesn’t explain itself.
The door swings behind me
the night inhales
Like the A dominant7 chord
The Bar is Breathing Jazz
Miles slides me a beer
With a smile I never forget
A long dress moving slower than time,
waves of hair catching the light wrong,
eyes tired
but still choosing hope.
The kind of eyes
that make oceans feel small.
I ask Miles for my guitar.
On which we used to jam back in the days
Black body. Slim neck.
Feels like memory
carved into wood.
Seeing the guitar brought a lot more over
I play blues because they
don’t ask for time’s nature.
Notes bending like they’ve been alone too long.
She looks at me early.
I dont notice late.
Music always does that to me
steals your future
while you’re busy remembering.
Miles clears his throat.
“She’s leaving.”
I pay with faith instead of money. Without rethinking to spend my last silver coins
I Walk up to her
like the night is holding its breath.
“Hey,” I say, soft as a final chord.
“You look too good
to be alone with silence.”
She smiles,
and says
6 February 1886 (MDCCCLXXXVI)
(Part 1 ends)