The Lone Saxophone
By Karen Hartley
A rainy night in the city
Mournful notes rose
From the slick pavement
Illumined from above
By the golden light of
The street lamps.
The soulful tones of a
Lone saxophone
Somewhere in the distance
Seemed to beckon us
Step by step the solitary
Melody drew us
It was as if that instrument
Knew us
On we walked
Our feet sloshed
The rain washed
Over us
We could not stop nor
Abandon the search
The lone saxophone called us
As if to church
We walked almost hypnotized
Following the unbroken rise
And riffs of the music
That song drawing us
Along the streets
Until finally
There he stood
The Player leaning back
Against the building wall
Looking upward in
A kind of reverence
I wondered if we should
Call out to him
We decided to stop a
Short distance away
And listen as he continued
To play
We stood for awhile unseen
And watched him silhouetted
By the amber light’s gleam
Hs fingers danced across
The buttons on his horn
We wondered if he ever felt
Worn out
Playing for the people or
Like on this night
For himself alone
Just him and his instrument
His talent
His lament
We walked away into the night
The notes fading with each step
Until finally
The music of the street
Became the only sound
The streetlamps our only light
Today, sometimes when I
Close my eyes and listen
I can still hear the
Mournful tones of
That lone saxophone glisten
Through the falling drops
Of water
On a rainy night
In the city.
This is a very haunting poem. I can see and hear the night. You are a very talented poet!
ReplyDeleteSuzy Paluzzi
Freelance Writer
suzypaluzzi.wordpress.com
Thank you! This is based on an actual experience we had one night in San Francisco. It has been with me ever since, and
ReplyDeleterecalling it again the other day, the poem came to me and I
wrote it in about half an hour.
Appreciate your gracious comments and support!
Karen