Every Word

“Every word was a lie” is what I wrote one day,

But then again, how would I know?

I believed every lie even when I knew it wasn’t true

because that’s what you do when she’s young and hard bodied

and your time and your dope is damn near gone.

Or at least that’s what I did.

I haven’t been to the “far back of the bar” for a very long time,

I don’t get misty eyed anymore

when I hear Johnny Hartman sing Lush Life.

The music is still sweet and sad.

Even now I want the blue smoke and murmur underneath

the worn out seduction that tonight will be different,

It was exciting wasn’t it,

even though we always knew how it would end.

Maybe she still has luminous red hair, or it could be

red streaked with grey. Maybe I’ll let go of the lies,

go outside and kick up a little dust,

dance alone under the stars of a North Texas summer night.

Photograph by Michael Lebowitz ©2012