Get Your Premium Membership

Read Dedicated Poems Online

NextLast
 

clara

clara

 

down at the fourth street pub and grill

most folks sat around the bar

while one played to her hearts content

wishing to someday become a star

 

clara tinkered on her beat-up steinway

with whiskey glasses neatly stacked

as her fingers found the waiting keys

she poured out her soul where talent lacked

 

alternating softly between sharps and flats

ebony and ivory and nothing between

tears steadily fell into her latest glass

dreams and visions not as they seemed

 

stains of soured whiskey touched the rim

where red lipstick dried like her empty kiss

she tickled the keys with a sad love song

but the smooth ivory bars were much too stiff

 

numb fingers stopped her cold on one song

she knew there was nothing more to say

so clara stood and quietly bowed to none

for to no one in particular she refused to play

 

clara left dejected and alone that night

whiskey glasses still stacked high

and no one missed her when she was gone

though she had really wanted to say goodbye

 

now only one respectful gentleman visits her

placing twelve white roses on her grave

as he recalls the girl who played the steinway

and the joyous moments of music she gave

Copyright © wayne tolbert

NextLast



Book: Radiant Verses: A Journey Through Inspiring Poetry