1960/
small town in the West
the stranger has just 'rode in'
his '49 Caddie rusting
on the dusty street outside
a saloon called the Shining Cloud
*
he buys a good ole boy
a whisky for the talk
he never tires of /
a girl picks up a blue guitar
& sings his pain to sleep /
he doesn't want to leave
her lyrics on the sawdust floor
*
when he rides out tomorrow
he says he'll follow the wheat fields
& the rain
twenty years on
& the painting is marked already
& grimy. you're
out of the picture now who
gave it life
who lent an ear to - of
all things - a
girl from a local parlour
who was prob-
ably pleased with the business
at first.
such posthumous fame she
has - such light
Poems © John O'Connor 2014