Fishnet Stockings and a Bow Tie
Idealist
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Take the way of hips, of lips, of detergent hair,
Of delinquent suggestion pursued in the dark
Of an ill kept bar ringing with pinball, the thwock
Of darts and pool balls sinking into pockets.
Find on the bathroom wall, swimming in a sweat
Of ammonia and vomit, the story of a Name,
Of the bursting thirst and betrayal, pursued
From cradle to hearse. It is good to think
That this way of abandon, broken by storms,
That I navigate by moon and sonnet and the fall
Of breasts and bellies, is guided by a star,
Eros, who would not mislead us into death
But continue to caress, long beyond the willows,
The yews, the wave’s black crest.
This is beautiful, jon. when is it from? would i have seen it before? what’s the connection to the heading title (from joni mitchell, right?)?
Thanks, John. I have no idea at the moment when I wrote this. I’m going to guess late nineties, but it may have been during this benighted century. I’m sure you’ve seen it, it was in heavy rotation for a while. It’s one of the few from whatever time it was that i still like.
Oh, the Joni Mitchell lines popped into my head when I wanted a title. They were apt so I used them. The connection I suppose is the bar, and maybe unconsciously a story my friend Bob told me once. He was tending bar at 2A and sitting in the back, getting tanked, was Joni Mitchell. And I thought of that line when he told me that story. And while 2A’s bathroom never smelled of vomit, the poem could have taken place there. Or Bar on 7th Street. Listen to Hold On and Pray at Philip’s, it’s Georgie’s!