Of a night on a battered red leather sofa
It's moved with us three times
It sits in a room with a broken bay window
And we sit on it too
And we sit on it too

Drinking yellow anise from mismatched glasses
With ice, not warm water
Singing stories, spinning yarns with broken bottles
Of girls with leopard-print hands
And the straw man in the moon
The straw man in the moon.

The cord hangs on the wall:
A symbol, but not symbolic
As chords rise, break off and fall
All a sham, but not shambolic
A sham, but not shambolic.

Swapping tales and anecdotes of cars parked between cake stalls
And days with names that don't suit them
People dying for causes they don't understand
And war is an island; a land hyperbolic
A Green land, a war land; unplanned hyperbolic.

Linguistics are twisted and brass tales are dropped
A cork is unwrapped from the web where it popped
But the darkness is rising, the hours are ticking
The side is hitched up so we all know we're doomed.
We hear children singing in the guitar strings,
Their screeches rising as they fall,
Our speeches diving as they fall.

And speaking of speeches, he says, a performance is mine
But in France, man... in France the markets are open
And the fields of Provence roll down to the menhirs of Carnac
And Brocéliande lies to us all,
And Brocéliande lies to us all.

My 6 strings mend broken reflections.
They chant sweet elegies,
with beautiful melodies
calling you to a better direction

Yes, I want to be your guitar
That guitar that you’ve fallen in love with at first glance
You can’t let it go; you’ve already carved its features in your heart
I would steal its position, if I only had the chance

You tried averting your eyes from it and looked for other one
It was expensive after all, you can’t afford one
But you did all means in the end, just to have it in your hands
If it was me, would you have done everything you can?

Finally, it was all yours, I was happy for you
With that even brighter beaming smile, who would not?
You started spending time together, like a couple would do
And then I started doubting, I am happy for you, right?

You brought it home and even slept with it
Ah! I was so envious, how I wish those arms were wrapped around me
The two of you under the rain, walking against the wind
Whereas I can only write our names under an umbrella, wishing it can be you and me

I dedicated all love songs to you as you composed your songs for it
Expressing your overflowing love, your undying happiness, it was all packaged in the songs
And though I was so hurt, your songs are always on repeat
Listening and undergoing the same excruciating pain all day long

I’m a mere fan, with a paper and a pen on both hopeless hands
You’re shining brightly on the stage with your guitar, a wonderful superstar
I wonder when this stupidity started, but this poem was made because of this great distance
If this unrequited, one-sided feeling will someday reach you, I’ll tell you, I want to be your guitar

My heart is just
another guitar for you to fix.

guitar's
wailing tonight;
long, slow, melancholy.
The only way he knows to say
goodbye

Heavy
blues in the room.
Through the haze, ash and sound,
he caresses Lucille and then
plays on.

It ain’t too bad to be from there
Just ask my family and friends
But it’s too flat, ain’t no way out
The roads are all dead ends.
Sometime soon I’ll find a place
Where the music I’ll enjoy
But for now I keep on tryin’
To escape from Illinois!

There’s a river on the border west
That moves a lot of dirt
Mighty Muddy Mississipp
Drowns the pain and covers hurt
Yeah, I’m movin’ south to New Orleans
Maybe I can find employ
In a blues bar down on Bourbon Street
Escape from Illinois!

Well I stopped a week along the way
When I saw the Gateway Arch.
But the folks out by the airport
Were stagin’ up a march.
Seems a white cop fired a shot that killed
An unarmed teenage boy
Oh yeah, the teenage boy was black,
Escape from Illinois.

Kept walkin’ to the Landing
(Named for Pierre Laclede)
It has most every thing you want
But nothing that you need
Some travelin’ folk told me some news
That made me jump for joy
Memphis maybe had some work
Escape from Illinois!

Found the haunted house called Graceland
And the grave where Elvis lay
Where half a million go each year
(Fifteen thousand every day)
They all want to pay respects
To the rockin’ – rollin’ boy
Put their finger in the bullet holes
Escape from Illinois.

Went downtown, knocked on some doors
Once or twice I went inside
But Beale Street was broken
The travelin’ folks had lied.
‘Cuz there ain’t no jobs in Memphis,
Or maybe I’m too coy
So I hitched a ride to Nashville
Escape from Illinois.

Nashville’s a big old meltin’ ***
Lots of great ones started here
But most end up as tourists
Getting’ ****** and drinkin’ beer
So money’s at a premium
And fame’s a fake decoy
End up workin’ in a record store
Escape from Illinois?

From Asheville to Atlanta
From Austin to LA
From Biloxi back to Baton Rouge
Need a place where I can play
I’ll follow all the buskers,
Form a musical convoy
Livin’ day by day and town by town
Escape from Illinois!

I’m a minstrel, like a rubber band
I keep on snappin’ back
I’m gonna make it somewhere
Singing somewhere, that’s a fact
Got my guitar and my music
Gotta do what I enjoy
Find a place to sing my songs for you,
Hell, it may be Illinois!
Phil Lindsey  6/4/15

I enjoy the solitude
The drawn curtain, being alone

I don't need a friend
Unless the shadows count

I can smile, have a conversation
with myself

A guitar in my lap
A song in my head

I enjoy the solitude