Friday, January 11, 2008

Shade 26: Midnight Blue

I see the flashing neon hidden by the fog
Tucked inside an alley off the street
The door is plain and cold and there’s just a little sign
That invites me to my own midnight retreat

The softened yellow light leaks out beneath the door
As it opens to admit my leather shoes
The usuals are slumping after hours at the bar
While Baxter in the corner wails the blues

His mellow saxophone plays the anthem of the night
A striking match and clink of cups the only other sound
This is where the lonely drink in quiet desperation
So I join this motley crew to which I’m bound

But at least here it’s familiar and there’s nothing unexpected
Where the harlots and the business men entwine
A layer of cigar smoke lingers like a mystic haze
And everyone has secrets on their mind

Like so many nights before it began with such potential
To free me from the doldrums I know too well
But like a mariner to the sea I’m pulled back into this haven

To finish out another evening in a solitary hell