bridget

this poem is for the girl who could brighten every joint in the west village a bar full of onion eaters a junkie full of moon I first met you in mcsorley’s bright as a streetlight uncanny & terribly smart smart as an NYU dropout crazy with the heat in mid-july you never got yr chance you said you never got your shot hurrying thru one crowd to another a waitress job across town rain falling naïve corrosive & sad in cooper square—this town was perfect for you everyone in a hurry nobody noticing anything you turned heads standing outside the san remo a baby in your arms a cop tore his badge right off his shirt & handed it to you he said he wanted to give you something to remember him by—you were everybody’s darling a gaslight angel pretty as paris by the smoldering blue cobblestone seine sitting by a window eating a tangible salad in the neon café you could charm the paint off a politician young snakes leapt out of every basket the cote d’azur had nothing on you & bridget your hands raced in circles whenever you talked two frightened horses snorting with the equine pleasure of your company all the young bucks sweaty apocalyptic methodical & you with that wonderful smile wide as bleecker street first time I met you working the sawdust crowd for tips I knew you could see right thru me like superman thru a brick wall yes but you made me feel like the last piece of a jigsaw puzzle you put me back together you made me feel like spun gold or wasted treasure the unspeakable glory of your attention—just like a kid caught with his fist stuffed sticky & sweet in a jellybean jar—guilty clever irrelevant & rare

George Wallace is author of twenty-three chapbooks of poetry, adjunct professor of English at Pace University in Manhattan, and writer in residence at the Walt Whitman Birthplace. Actively involved in the poetry performance scene in New York City, he travels widely in the US and in Europe to recite poetry, conduct workshops, and give literary presentations. For more information, visit PoemTrain, his blog, at georgewallacepoemtrain-gwallace.blogspot.com.