His Night Life by Barbara Eknoian

We should have saved the 8 x 10 glossy
of Dad and his friend Joe
posing with Sammy Davis Jr., Al Martino,
and Sophie Tucker at a night club
in Cuba, just before the revolution.
The last time I saw the picture,
it was stapled to the wall
behind his tool bench in the basement.
It was one of the few times,
he’d posed without his Fedora,
revealing his bald head.
With his big smile and warm handshake,
I imagine him sending a round of drinks
to their table, then asking
if they’d pose for the photograph.
 
Another time, at the Copa, he engaged
Bob Hope in conversation, because
he noticed him trying to place
where he had known him.
My dad jokingly bet Hope
his diamond watch
that he wouldn’t remember.
He had caddied for him in l939,
thirty years before.
 
In our family album, there are hardly
any shots of my father,
but I recall my favorite picture of him:

he’s standing with his friend, Puggie,
who’d just got back from the service.
They’re leaning against the bar,
holding shot glasses high in the air.
He looks happy in the darkness of the cabaret,
his face illuminated.

Barbara Eknoian is a poet and writer. Her work has appeared in Chiron Review, Red Shift, Newverse News, and Silver Birch Press's anthologies. Her books are available on Amazon. She hails from New Jersey, but lives in California for many years and has never lost her Jersey accent..

Originally published in Why I Miss New Jersey, Everhart Press 2013