I only have eyes for you

whiskies in a smoky bar

took me back to ‘Five Spot’

nights of hard-liquor,

Ornette Coleman, Eric Dolphy  

 

but this ain’t the sixties -

and it ain't New York City 

 

up-front a combo rips

refried Coltrane classics

 

I catch the bar guy's eye

signal, ‘a double... no ice’

he rags the bar top dry

wipes a tumbler - fills it
 

wincing heavy on a stick

a singer struggles onstage

 

the band waits,

she clicks,

‘one, two, three four’

 

they clambake into a smoking

‘I only have eyes for you’  

 

her pain-cracked vocals

haunting, like broken Billie

braving out a happy face

grip me

 

I down the J.D.

nod for another...

one more...
 

hard to believe

a cool jazz night in Hackney,

nineteen ninety - 

no punters in the place but me
 

the set closes

I’m wasted 

buying drinks for the band -

doubles all round

 

booze bold,

I corner the singer,

 

‘you blew me away

how do you sing

when you're in so much pain?’
 

she sips a chilled water,

nails me with a stare

shrugs, coughs, grunts,

 

‘at least I ain't bleedin' crippled inside’