Two Sentence Tuesday #29

            Alone on the stage, under the bleary gaze of inebriated eyes, his fingers plucked the strings as he began a slow, sorrowful lament in the key of F minor. He found a familiar woman in a green dress, sitting in solitude across the room, and as the pair made an invisible connection, she understood that the song was about them.  

Before the Curtains Opened

Before the Curtains Opened

My god, she looked uncomfortable…

Marooned on a solitary crimson island,

Waiting for the rest of her band to arrive,

With her shimmering trumpet trembling

Like a child on her disquieted knee.

Who could honestly blame her?

Left alone, I’d have cased my trumpet

With hasty contempt and slunk away,

Leaving spectators to watch the dust fall…

Yet she minded the store like a pro.

She waited with dutiful resolve,

And when a march of musicians

Filed in and filled their vacant seats,

When they sounded thunderous greatness,

Her trumpet bellowed, bold and proud.

Heading to a Gig

Heading to a Gig

He stands beneath a stop sign…

            …waiting for his ride.

He tugs his jacket tighter…

            …to leave the cold denied.

He left one gig behind him…

            …with one left on the side.

A six-string in his hand, now…

            …some music in his head.

Just waiting for a bus, now…

            …until he walks, instead.

And when the sun lies low, now…

            …he’ll know the day is dead.

Put one foot on the sidewalk…

            …and now it’s time to roam.

Playing blues inside a gin joint…

            …beneath a neon dome.

And when the clock strikes 3AM…

            …he’ll finally make it home.