There's a road
A two-lane blacktop
From Delaur Boulevard
To the smash-up at the end
Rolling down it on a summer night
The only car on the road;
If I still drank, I would hold the bottle out the window
Under warm stars whose light is just a memory,
Close my eyes and
Hold my arm straight out
Til the wind catches that bottle
And it sings
Like a spiritual.
_____________
(2006)
Dear Readers: I am having all sorts of problems with Blogger. New post edotor won't let me load images anymore, but old post editor completely messed up the spacing on this poem, so I had to delete it and repost. It already had two comments, so I am copy/pasting them here:
ReplyDeleteJannie Funster:
I love the music of a bottle in the wind.
Beautiful, thanks.
xoxo
and Sherry Blue Sky:
Hey, you posted this at 6:18 p.m. and here it is 3:23 in the afternoon - where did those hours go? I like the simplicity of this poem - the rolling highway, the warm air, your arm out the window - and then the wowzer last line: where it sings like a spiritual. Sigh. Beautiful.
Its just the time difference, my western friend. :-) --FB
oh and oh
ReplyDeleteThis is just beautiful. I can hear that bottle sing.
ReplyDeleteIf, of course, you were still drinking...
ReplyDeleteMake it a big nearly empty bottle. They have a nice base tone to them :-)
Gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteBlogger sucks! Thanks for sharing this gem, though.
ReplyDeleteI've been having the same problems..I was blaming it on my jank computer.
ReplyDeleteI love this, though, I could just see it and hear that bottle whistle blowing all low and lonesome
It is the emptiness that makes it sing. Le sigh! You know how to make words sing, my friend!xoxo
ReplyDeleteThis is beautiful, it felt like one of those dark, perfect nights, that suck you in and you're not afraid, just at peace with everything it offers. Great write, i loved the bottle and the wind, the car. perfect.
ReplyDeleteAgain with the beautiful words!
ReplyDeleteAnd I am getting error messages constantly on blogger - some 404 message the most. I can't even sign out - that message just pops up.
i can hear it sing...
ReplyDeleteBeware the siren song... but I love the imagery.
ReplyDeleteSorry you are having blogger issues, Shay. I keep getting error messages when trying to comment on blogs. Soooo frustrating! Smarten up BLOGGER!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you don't drink anymore...this poem made me very very sad...especially the image of the smash-up end of the road.
I can see the road and feel the wind. would love to be doing that right now :)
ReplyDeleteShay -- Hey, I can identify with technical problems. I was without the Internet for most of yesterday and who knows if I'll have it today.
ReplyDeleteI loved this poem and idea of the bottle "singing....like a spiritual."
Well said my dear:~)
love this concept, Shay
ReplyDelete