I sat at the café table by the window,
rain tracing slow rivers down the glass.
The city blurred gray beyond,
tiny circles forming and vanishing
in puddles that caught the soft glow of streetlights.
Jazz drifted from a small speaker,
warm and intimate,
and I thought of Kerouac,
of Ginsberg,
of words written in motion,
words chasing the rhythm of the world.
Chet Baker’s voice floated in,
fragile, slow
“My Funny Valentine.”
I imagined the song born
on a day like this,
damp and quiet,
with ink still wet on paper.
Outside, women passed
bright, luminous, unreachable
each step a story I would never enter,
each umbrella a tiny, moving universe.
I drank it all in,
knowing some painter, somewhere,
searching for a solitary figure at a café table,
would never capture
this precise intersection of rain, music, and longing.
My funny valentine is a beautiful song. It’s something that sticks in the mind. I like how you said that a painter may hear it. That could make is day go easier. Nice piece
Thanks for the comment, Fia. 🙂
I remember this one. It is so good. Top tier writing, really. It could be in any creative writing book out there. I think it’s my fav of yours, and perhaps your best. Excellent.
I wondered if I had posted this before. Thanks, Styx. This is the result of about 18 revisions. lol
hello dearest Tim you’re obciously of great taste…I feel your pangs on this rainy day painted so beautifully ❤️
Thanks so much, Crimsin. 🙂
Beautifully penned, Tim. Such an excellent write with amazing storytelling and precise imagery my friend. Nicely done. Appreciate you.
Damian
I appreciate the comment, Damian. Thanks.
You spread imagery like a true artist in this one. A painter could never touch it. You took us there and settled us with that song in that café and created a moment forever breathing
I appreciate you comment, Willow. Thanks.
Tim this is one of the most evocative and emotionally strong poems of have read on the Beat poet experience. I have read much Kerouac, Ginsberg, Gregory Corso, and many others and this poem takes me into the heart of their world but written in retrospective from a much later time. Truly this is a work of great poetic art that refreshed my spirit on how much I loved reading those writers from yesteryear.
John
Thank you so much, John. 🙂
Really great work. The depersonalization of our world. Moving words.
Regards
James
Thanks very much James. 🙂