Smoke Rings

poem by: Jude Kyrie
Written on Feb 03, 2015

The ash line lengthens.
From my untouched cigarette. 
Smoke rings billow 
Like clouds passing eternity. 

Its past the time of sleep. 
Only memories flow 
Only of you 
always you.. 

The bartender freshens my drink. 
The music weeps from 
The sweetness of sound 
that only the alto sax Can bring..
 A nelson riddle arrangement 
Touches my soul as always. 

When you're near,
there's such an air
 of spring about it,
 I can hear a lark somewhere, 
begin to sing about it, 
There's no love song finer, 
but how strange 
the change from major to minor, 
Everytime we say goodbye. 

It's Ella's trademark song 
But we borrowed it.
It was ours honey. 
Just for a while. 

The whisky burns my throat
As the saxophone wails. 
The ashtray smokes 
You are behind its mist. 
The bar is quiet and peaceful 
The drinks dull all pain. 

Outside the rain is falling 
The neon lights 
color the pavement 
in muted reflections. 

I see us again 
through the window. 
Arm in arm 
walking in the rain. 
Then you float away 
Like the smoke in my ashtray. 

The sax builds up 
to the last line 
Ella almost whispers 
Everytime we say goodbye. 

 

Tags: sad, love, imagery,

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Trevor Cartwright commented:
Wow, now THAT'S a moving poem! I love the imagery and the way you compared such things to the story like (whiskey burning the throat, major transitioning to minor, etc.) I really felt an emotional connection by the end of the poem. That is rare for me. Thanks for sharing such a beautiful and moving poem!
Christopher Russon commented on Dec 03, 2017 at 1:03pm
Really takes me back to 1969.me and a girlfriend walking arm in arm.really nice poem.

 

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