I can see the neon in the bar
Across the canal.
And the lightning strikes
And the water stirs.
She wears that favorite dress.
The rain is blowing straight.
And she must have gotten wet.
Restraints are loosening up
As lightning strikes.
It is red blue neon in the bar
Where the shadows drink
Near an empty table.
And it puddles on the floor
The dress she doesn’t wear.
I see the moored boat bob
In the neon from the bar
And drink my whiskey neat
Until the lightning strikes.
Let's explain a little about this one.
My wife and I spent a couple days and nights at The Inn on Canal Square in Lewes, Delaware back on January 24, 25, 26. This is a very nice little hotel in a nice little town. We have stayed there at least three times now. This year the weather turned frightful. It rained all day on the 26 until it turned to sleet about dinner time and then to snow. It was a large snowstorm to the North back where we lived, about 12 inches.
I was sitting in the Inn looking out the window. It was dark and there was thunder and lightning to go with the snow. It was very moody and sinister in a way. I had the thought, "I can see the neon in the bar across the canal." I picked up a pad that my friend, Ron had given me (it had his picture on it) and just wrote this little poem. I think it has an ominous feel.
The woman who appears in the movie a couple times is my wife. I use her a lot for book covers and illustrations because she is pretty and she was once a model. Other than that, the poem is a fiction. My wife was not having an affair, I was not sitting in a bar "drinking my whiskey neat". That is not my thing at all.
Note: Since I originally published this poem at Poetry Vortex I found some people were confused by the subtext. I have since rewritten a couple of the key lines, which are what are printed here. If you play the video you will hear the original. Hopefully the light changes make it clear about who is who, who is doing what and who is where in this ditty. (6/2/2011)
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