Poem for Paul Sanchez

I don't know how this didn't wind up in my blog before, but here it is. I suspect there's an updated version floating around here somewhere, but I can't find it at the moment.



For Paul Sanchez at DBA June 7, 2007

Rolling along
with the good times
this songwriter's shine
has enslaved me

might be the only
thing that can save me
from the parched dryness
of my wordless places

This storyteller's stage
is an oasis where even a poet
can feast on something
besides her own lonely phrases

and the room is
all but empty
and the stage is
all but bare

and there is desperation
in my inspiration
and it comes with
a melancholy aftertaste

But this is the only place
for poets tonight
beneath the lights
or at the bar

and here I am
and there you are


Copyright © 2007 Melissa Lewis