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Open Poetry #47
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JerryPat
Senior Member
since 2010-10-30
Posts 1991
Louisiana/America

0 posted 2011-01-21 07:25 AM


hands on the clock
over the door tells a tale
an oft-told tale
of despair
jukebox background music
hour of besottedness
room hazy with cigarette smoke
he lights up
wonders which will kill him first
whiskey or the cancer sticks
it is in the wee morning hour
joint shows no sign of closing
hell with the law
there are lost souls to attend to
besides its cold outside
warm and toasty here
gigantic woman behind the bar
doubles as bouncer
she's drunk too
not much to look at
still he'd like to . . .
faint sirens can be heard over the jukebox
Waylon wailing
are you sure Hank did it this way
five people
left in the gin mill
all staring down at their drinks
except for the one man in the corner booth
crying
about a wasted life and images from the past
the blanket of gloom
is palatable
in this Rod Sterling kind of place
a place between reality and once-upon-a-time
ungodly hour
ungodly men waiting for the death knell
whatever is left of self respect
can be seen in the bottom of a shot glass
dreams pushed aside
so long ago not one of them
remember who or what they were back then
wish the man in the corner booth
would please stop crying
or at least walk outside
and step in front of a city bus



~ Clones are people two ~

© Copyright 2011 Jerry Pat Bolton - All Rights Reserved
nakdthoughts
Member Laureate
since 2000-10-29
Posts 19200
Between the Lines
1 posted 2011-01-21 07:32 AM


very sad, especially if you had lived through this

M

JerryPat
Senior Member
since 2010-10-30
Posts 1991
Louisiana/America
2 posted 2011-01-21 07:38 AM


Oh, yeah, I've been there, done that. I guess I need to stop writing these sad one. Although they did wonders for Poe, not saying I'm anywhere close to his greatness.

~ Clones are people two ~

Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354
Listening to every heart
3 posted 2011-01-21 08:15 AM


It's easy enough to plop one's butt
right into the middle of this poem,
Waylon, Hank, and Serling all...

enjoyed, Jerry.

Lori Grosser Rhoden
Member Patricius
since 2009-10-10
Posts 10202
Fair to middlin' of nowhere
4 posted 2011-01-21 08:15 AM


Jerry! Don't you dare stop writing these sad ones they are like great blues songs and old movies...Gotta love it! and I do.
Lori

JerryPat
Senior Member
since 2010-10-30
Posts 1991
Louisiana/America
5 posted 2011-01-21 08:18 AM


Thanks, Sunshine. I appreciate your very nice thoughts.

<><><>

Don't worry, Lori, I have no choice but write what I know best.

~ Clones are people two ~

faithmairee
Senior Member
since 2011-01-05
Posts 1441
Poe Haven, USA
6 posted 2011-01-21 11:44 AM


this is very sad but so well written...i enjoyed it much!


Faith

There must be a poem in here somewhere.

JerryPat
Senior Member
since 2010-10-30
Posts 1991
Louisiana/America
7 posted 2011-01-21 11:48 AM


Faith, I thank you for your continued support and the fact that you liked this dark poetry of mine.

~ Life is sexually transmitted ~

OwlSA
Member Rara Avis
since 2005-11-07
Posts 9347
Durban, South Africa
8 posted 2011-01-22 01:38 PM


This is beautifully and sensitively portrayed, Jerry.  I find it achingly and paralysingly sad, that, despite the fact that beauty and joy and truth surround and embrace us all, so many people truly never see,  nor feel, nor experience them at any level, nor have the faintest inkling that these things are right there.  

Owl

JerryPat
Senior Member
since 2010-10-30
Posts 1991
Louisiana/America
9 posted 2011-01-22 01:54 PM


You got it Owl. There are times when people who are down cannot find that place in the sun where they can grow, and it becomes a vicious circle.

~ Life is sexually transmitted ~

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