Solicitude at Jester’s Bar by Jeffrey Alfier

Bullhead City, AZ

    O to live in the soulful blueness of night.
          — Georg Trakl

Tell me, old man: how was it your Harley trundled
    through empty autumn twilight,

back to the hometown that never died inside you —
    its streetlights starring the gray avenues?

Now, late sun through the bar’s windows
    meets the warm wine cruising your blood,

meets the barmaid’s hazel eyes,
    tolerant smile, leather skirt

and chestnut hair, heady perfume
    you can’t name, silken curve of freckled breasts.

Your gaze will follow her all night
    like an animal’s scent, even as she turns away,

your drink at last call ordered seconds too late
    as she glances back at you like an empty room.

Jeffrey Alfier’s most recent book is Gone This Long: Southern Poems (2019). His publication credits include The Carolina Quarterly, Chiron Review, Copper Nickel, Midwest Quarterly, Permafrost, and Southern Poetry Review. He is founder and co-editor of Blue Horse Press and San Pedro River Review.