sara Etgen-Baker Poet Free verse

Notes About The Poem

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Over a century ago, my great-grandfather (Wilhelm Itchen) immigrated from Germany to the United States, his ship landing outside Galveston Bay. Shortly thereafter, he Anglicized his name to William Etgen, and thus the story of the Etgen family began. William married and eventually moved his wife (Anna) and family to Dallas, Texas.  However, one of my great uncles loved the sea and remained in Galveston.  Family history suggests that he owned and operated a bar off the Galveston coast, providing food and drink to fishermen and shrimpers after a long day at sea.  Then there’s the legend of the ghost jukebox that remained in the bar many years after my great uncle’s passing….

GHOST JUKEBOX IN GALVESTON

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The neon hums like a dying wasp~  
flickers Roy Orbison in wounded pink,  
while the gulf wind tongues  
the screen door’s loose hinge.  

A quarter rolls from my palm,  
kisses the chrome throat  
of a machine that remembers  
Patsy Cline, but not my name.  

Some nights, the bartender lets it play  
the same cracked track~  
Crazy—on loop till dawn,  
while shrimp boats cough diesel  
into the salt-thick dark.  

I press B-17. The gears grind,  
spit out a melody warped  
by hurricane sweat,  
by the weight of all the songs  
it swallowed and never digested.  

When the power fails,  
the jukebox still glows~  
a ghost lit by its own stubborn heat,  
singing to the empty stools,  
to the tide’s slow retreat.

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Line Gauthier March 25, 2026 at 1:55 PM What a fabulous family story ~ lovely poem