She tiptoed through the city playing 'Hot Sticks' on her snare drum Her fire-engine-red bright-as-****-mother-*******-snare-drum Midnight street lights jumped off the chrome tube lugs harder then her four sixteenth notes Never had realized how good the acoustics were here on 47th Not so much an echo A reverb The lights on behind every curtain Children pressing oils stains into the windows leaving little ovals of fog from their nostrils Old ladies in the middle of dialing 911 The telephone wire shoes tap dancing her rhythm on the sky pop ta-pop-pap-op pop pop-pap-pap-pap-ta-pap-pat Tip toeing Like she was yelling the whole world the biggest secret she could think of just wanted to make sure she didn't wake her parents in the next room I can't remember what she wore
A dress, I guess Whatever She kissed my cheek and bit my shoulder Tip toed away Blue high heels...****** eye-shadow blue high heels I yelled at her, "Why are you tip toeing, you've already woken the whole neighborhood?" Without a thought Without a pause Without missing a beat she yelled back, "If I am going to wake them all up anyway it ought to be with my song, not my step" I sat down and heard the stem of a flower snap beneath me
The drumming was gone, all the lights were off There were no footprints to follow My shoulder dry My cheek a tingle I had woken them with my step Had no song to put them back to sleep with that night Tried to whisper a lullaby Instead pulled the trumpet from my pocket Blew 'Taps' the whole way home A string of cop cars, and yelling ladies with their curlers in behind me Stage lights and groupies And from somewhere in the fog my desperate attempt to wake them all up became a duet to play them back to sleep.
A collection of poems by me is available on Amazon Where She Left Me - Michael DeVoe http://goo.gl/5x3Tae