Dreaming in Noir
Chapter Three
Johnny Almond’s sax
Double helix in my head
Double helix in my head
Sound & sex
The city night spirals
Redolent with the yeasty scent of fresh bread
A sugary plea from the bakery across the tracks
& sour beer spiked on saw dust floors
Of cantinas dotted with cheap string party lights
Summery revelers
Eighty-sixed from whorls of heat
Out on the prowl
Howls & whoops
The beast of the season awakened
At Casa de Palmas
House (slash) art gallery
I muse over a splashy portrait in blue
A young beauty glancing back
Smooth & satisfied
Her allure secure
Could be you
Past & present intermix
Transfixed in a trance
I sway a poetic vertigo
Lines flash their pretty strut
The way you high heeled down the steps
Dragging me to you
The last note—yours
By Fernando Esteban Flores
Fernando Esteban Flores is a native son of Texas and resides in San Antonio. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Arts in English. He has taught English and writing at various area secondary schools. He has published in the Texas Observer, SA Express-News, RiverSedge, Written with a Spoon: a Poet’s Cookbook (an anthology of poetry and recipes by Sherman-Asher Press, Santa Fe, NM), “Is This Forever or What?”(Green Willow Books, Naomi Nye, editor—an imprint of Harper Collins). His poetry books Ragged Borders, Red Accordion Blues, and BloodSongs are available from Hijo Del Sol Publishing. For information about National Poetry Month events in San Antonio, go to npmsa.com.
This article appears in Apr 17-23, 2013.