I walked myself out of the buzz of a long day
A driving day where the highway crawls into your nerves
Each turn of the tires transmitting itself into some neural pathway
To lay fresh asphalt in the back of your brain
Upcoasting with amusement park thrills past beaches and castles
Into the sprawl of the Bay where highway lanes proliferate like noxious weeds
Filled with accelerating tension I’m soothed by the calm voice of the GPS
Who deftly selects lane changes until rush hour bogs us down
I found myself forced over a bridge that takes half a forever to cross and recross
Finally I reached a disappointment of a hotel and recovered my legs
Between Chinatown and Union Square
Found a bistro in the French Quarter with a jazz trio
Where I fed appetites to satiation
Then pounded some sidewalk to soak up the city
Digging the architecture
Recognizing Frank Lloyd Wright’s signature from a block away
Chilling in the sliding drift of crowded sidewalks
Absorbing looks and feels into placement location
Upscale and updone, I thought
Unbuzzed I headed back to the hotel
As I reached the corner a sliver of a plaintive wail pulled at my ear
A horn crying in the night
I turned and followed the sound
Found this dude and his horn
In a storefront alcove where he poured forth honeyed balm
I dropped a few bucks
After a while he stopped for a smoke break
We talked
“Name’s Top” he said when I asked
“Well Topcat really, but I’ve been around so long everybody just shortens it”
We talked some more like old friends catching up
Said goodnight and walked away
As I climbed into bed
A lick and a curl crept through the transom
Top was crying his blues in the night
And I slept soundly under his ragged blanket
David Trudel © 2013
