"Sixth Street Saga" (P.o.t.D. 5/20/15, no rev)

Before the clock had struck barely past ten,
A painted up tart waggled her loose tongue,
And a fray spilled out from the seedy den
Over all the damage her words had done.

For them to regain order and control,
The cops passed through the crowd, on razor’s edge,
Binding and cuffing and bumping heads ‘til –
They wound up Plopping dozens behind bars.

As the wounded's anger fizzled and itched,
A palpable foul cloud permeated
The jail’s grid, leaving all on razor’s edge,
Wafting like a toxic substance, heated.

Hours later, the tart still drank at the bar,
While the angry men fumed in the dank cells
And the police kept the streets, under guard.
She’d make no money that night for “a nail”.

"Seeking the Sweetness" (P.o.t.D. 4/6/15, no rev)

Peeling the hours away from this sweet day
To get to the juicy fruit of a dream -
Not remembered, drinking at the cafe,
A draught of coffee, with sugar and cream.

"Sandy Tears" (P.o.t.D. 1/24/17)

Challenge: In 30 words or less, write a poem about one of my dreams...
---------------------
In plain sight,
Dreams hide,
Like clouds drifting.

Why forget dewdrops
Left on nights' webs
That vanish
In morning?

Beauty unfolds, gently -
Lotus or onion - layers many.

Aware or asleep,
Pebbles snatched from my grasp.

"Sixth Street Saga" (P.o.t.D. 5/20/15)

Before the clock had struck barely past ten,
A painted up tart waggled her loose tongue,
And a fray spilled out from the seedy den
Over all the damage her words had done.

For them to regain order and control,
The cops passed through the crowd, on razor’s edge,
Binding and cuffing and bumping heads ‘til –
They wound up Plopping dozens behind bars.

As the wounded's anger fizzled and itched,
A palpable foul cloud permeated
The jail’s grid, leaving all on razor’s edge,
Wafting like a toxic substance, heated.

Hours later, the tart still drank at the bar,
While the angry men fumed in the dank cells
And the police kept the streets, under guard.
She’d make no money that night for “a nail”.

"Seeking the Sweetness" (P.o.t.D. 4/6/15)

Peeling the hours away from this sweet day
To get to the juicy fruit of a dream -
Not remembered, drinking at the cafe,
A draught of coffee, with sugar and cream.

Dream (4/12/08): a tango..?

3 scenes from a dream this afternoon, and a pondering about who she is:

The lady is slender and tall, with shoulder length red hair, and some amount of fame and possible notoriety associates with her. Who she is, is up for interpretation, but I feel her fame needs to proceed her, as the events described attach themselves easily to the price of fame?

When I first encounter her, she is pouring her man into the back seat of a black luxury car, as he is so far gone from some active addiction that he has lost all faculty of movement. I pause in my walk along the street, puzzled by this scene, and ask her, "Why are you still with him?"

At which point, she turns, with a tear on her cheek, and recounts a story from ten or more years gone by, and the scene in the dream dissolves into scenes from that story.

The two are seen on a stage, he in a formal black tuxedo, and she in a flowing white dress; they are practicing dance movements haltingly and stutteringly. Then, all of a sudden, as their eyes meet, or perhaps as his hand provides a strong anchor of support, something clicks. She begins to move freely with him, falling into the tempo of a tango, letting go of all worries of the outside world and the audience filtering in.

Several hours later, I now see her backstage, wrapped in nothing but the black tuxedo coat, positively beaming. He is tending to her needs, still dressed in all but the coat, and soaked thru and thru. I want to say that there's blood on his lips, too.

I'm thinking the tango turned into a bit of burlesque, and I want to associate this with a pivotal moment of overcoming stage fright, where the lady surrendered to this man.

Now, this is a dream, so who the lady is, is still up for interpretation. My first association actually thought maybe this was Lucille Ball, and correspondingly Desi Arnez. Then, I thought maybe it could be Cher..? Most likely, though, thinking about her physique, I probably modeled her after a real-life burlesque performer (who was incredibly hot) I saw during the Texas Burlesque Review at South by SouthWest.