Agnes Was Here, by Steve Deutsch

Agnes Was Here, photography by Jody Kennedy (USA). Contemporary. Click image for artist site.

Agnes Was Here

I saw Jay last week.
It was late 
and the streets surrounding 
the intersection of the BMT 
with the Church Avenue bus 
were deserted.
He stood humpbacked,
sheltering from the snow
under the overhang
of the candy store that graced the corner.
The distance between us
had grown to a dozen years
and I thought to walk away,
but he stood blue
and shivering--fumbling 
with a cigarette butt 
he could no longer light.
We huddled over the subway vent
until the worst of the shakes passed.

He was years ahead 
of his time,
in his artfully torn jeans
and army surplus jacket.
Who could have predicted
a generation would mimic his look,
if not his misery?

But he stole every show--
strutting the stage with his vintage Sunburst--
back when we were the next big thing,
before the booze
the smack
the nightly fights.
Back when we were family.
Before Agnes left him for the drummer--
the one we all called Einstein.

That graceless night,
I offered to find him shelter--
though he knew
I hoped he’d say no,
then slipped a few dollars
in his friendless hand
and boarded the empty bus home.

Steve Deutsch

Steve Deutsch, a semi-retired practitioner of the fluid mechanics of mechanical hearts and heart valves, lives with his wife Karen--a visual artist, in State College, PA.  Steve writes poetry, short fiction and the blog: [email protected].  His most recent publications have been inEclectica Magazine, The Ekphrastic Review, The Drabble, New Verse News, Silver Birch Press, Misfit Magazine and One-sentence poems. As an adult, Steve had the good fortune to sit in on two poetry classes taught by first class poets and teachers.  He has been writing poetry ever since.