Tonight's Poet Corner: Shiny Eyes

Shiny Eyes
by Belinda Roddie

Sounds like the name of a jazz standard -
the kind you listen to in a smoky bar,
an out-of-tune piano rocking

back and forth on shaky legs,
the strings of the bass grimy but still
humming like a happy old man.
Is perhaps one of the lyrics, "I look
at you, and they're just like fireflies?"

Or maybe, "'I feel a connection,
as I see my reflection. There's
no haze in your gaze, no lies..."

There's a taste to the music, too; like
whiskey left out in the sun, it's cloudy
but still leaves smog on your tongue. The
smell leaves your nose dry - resin and cigar

ash on a high table, where you sit and sip
your formula, waiting for a lullaby,
when all you've gotten is a cheesy tune
about falling for a guy with shiny eyes.