Being The Blues, a poem by Mike Turner at Spillwords.com

Home

Language

English

Being The Blues

Mike Turner·April 29, 2023

English Featured Post Poetry

·0 Comments·1 min read·64

Being The Blues

written by: Mike Turner

@SchoonerSkipper

I rise from damp rumpled sheets
Sleep won and lost in snatches
Room suffused with gray
Teetering between night and dawn

A long breath escapes my lips
As though a heavy stone weighs against my chest
And I feel the tiredness of the ages
Centuries receding behind me
Forgotten hopes and dreams of multitudes
Collapsing into dust

I make my way to the kitchen
Opening the refrigerator
Its harsh white light illuminating the emptiness
Switch on the coffee maker
Awaiting the mystery of mud turned to elixir
Satisfying nothing

Settling into an old chair in the living room
I light my first cigarette of the day
Reactivating the taste of burnt cinder in my throat
Recalling the dark bars and cheap whiskey
Of a lifetime ago
And last night

And contemplate my coming day
One of weariness
Dreariness
Ennui and despair
As so many before
And those yet to come

Knowing my only respite
Will be those moments where I again no longer wake
Nor dream

And my only hope
Of light and color
Being the blues

Series Navigation<< A Song to SingRhythm’s Embrace >>

About
Latest Posts

Mike Turner

Mike Turner is a songwriter and poet living on the US Gulf Coast. Named 2017 Male Gospel Entertainer of the Year by the North America Country Music Associations International, Mike’s original songs have received airplay in the US, UK, Ireland, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and on the US Armed Forces Radio Network. He is co-founder of Music For World Peace Records, an indie record label specializing in original songs that promote world peace and oppose war. Mike’s poetry has been published in numerous print and on-line journals and anthologies; his first published poem was placed with Spillwords in 2019. His poetry collection, “Visions and Memories,” was published in 2021 by Sweetycat Press.

Lou Storey

A textbook example of nominative determinism, Lou Storey has always been a storyteller, a fact well illustrated in his art and in his writing. His careers have reflected that as well, first as a creator of idea-based exhibitions for museums, and later as a psychotherapist employing narrative therapies. His art and his writing share qualities of rich texture and detail, examining our capacity to be absurd while allowing a measure of forgiveness for our foibles. Storey and his husband Steve retired in 2021 and moved from New Jersey to Savannah Georgia. “We love everything about Savannah, it is like a city that looks like a park and thinks it’s a small town. Best of all, we can grow bananas in the backyard!”

Treats Only, Please! by Lauren Scott

Creepy cackles from tall, looming trees
startle their jumpy heartbeats as they walk.
Shadows discreetly follow the echoes
while they timidly proceed down the block.

Young voices repeat with conviction,
“It’s just a night for entertainment.”
There’s no need for goosebumps and fear
as their eyes focus on the cracked pavement.

Undeniably sensing they’re not alone,
many follow in their hesitant footsteps,
eager to reach doors and push doorbells
but afraid of frightening special effects....

Features

Scotch Mist

Divine Intervention

Hatch

Interviews

Spotlight On Writers – Karen Southall Watts

Spotlight On Writers – Mike Ricketts

Spotlight On Writers – Linda Joyce Cooper

Precious Moments

Weird Sisters

Journal Entry

Being The Blues

Being The Blues

NEVER MISS A STORY

White Silk And Whispers

Sestina 1000 “Sestina of a Thousand”

Bouncing Golden Curls

The Kindness of Strangers

Jake Depree and the Castle of Worms

Divine Intervention

Poveglia

666 Alverstone Ave.

Hatch

Scotch Mist

A Shoreline Somewhere

Mortality

Soul of A Ghoul

Now: A Senryu Sequence

The Georgia Southern Man