When I was just an olive sparrow living rootless in Texas,
I met Kris Kristofferson and some hay-blond woman with a kind face.
I asked Kris,
"Are you going to Willie's picnic?'
and in that train engine rumble of his he laughed and said,
"Hell,
I see Willie at his house!"
I never saw Kris Kristofferson again after that, except once,
last night,
around 3 a.m.,
in a cemetery just off Woodward Avenue.
I asked him, "Where's Rita?"
He said,
"Oh, I couldn't rightly say, but wherever she's at I expect she's singin' "
We sat together on a marker for Howard Greenbriar, husband and father,
our beers at our feet, brown glass sweating in the grass,
their gold-and-yellow labels giving them the appearance of votive candles.
Looking up, I said, "I can't see the stars."
Kris told me, "That's the lights, babe. We're like belled cats lookin' for angels."
It was bright when I woke up.
I wondered what happened to the hay-blond woman with the kind face.
Her hair wasn't dark like Rita's or mine
or turning gray like Rita's or mine.
A friend texted, asking if I was going to the Kristofferson show that night.
I texted back
"Hell,
I see Kris at his house!"
But the truth is,
I haven't seen a star for a very long time._______________
The part about meeting Kris Kristofferson in the first part of this poem is true. Or maybe it was just some rando who looked and sounded exactly like him.
Amazing. Kris as a seer, ancient as myth, sowing seeds of light with a shrug, and you like an ancient child seeking truth in stars. (If there were any justice in the world, Shay, this would be published with every "reputable" poetry editor clambering for the rights.) Take care, my friend, Your voice is the Muse itself.
ReplyDeleteWow, this is awesome. I love the belled cats comment. I saw them perform once. Her voice, clear as a bell. He was inebriated and stumbling.
ReplyDeleteYou ~~ are the star. (Great write, Shay.)
ReplyDeleteDreams and stars and what was or what might have been, all stirred together in a fine draught of the past. There are too often too many lights to see the stars, but they do shine here.
ReplyDelete