Blues Man

 

Man of the blues,
Sing me a song
Plead, moan and holler those blues.

Sing…
Of love and passion
And joy and sadness;
Of being alone
and being together;
Of payback to enemies,
And payback to society;
Of prisons of concrete,
And prisons of the mind;
Sing of politics for the oppressed,
And politics that oppress;
You can deal with the drudging reality of life,
You can talk of fading utopian dreams.

They say you play the Devil’s music,
That you harbor a weakness
For whiskey and wild women.
Damn them all.
It’s nobody’s business what you do.

Oh troubadour of the troubled,
Sing of the bad and the glad,
Sing of great times to be had,
Tonight, you can be my muse
And sing me out of these blues

Play your black shiny guitar
Cajole that axe, make it wail
With a dissonance that aches
Like a tormented soul.

Sing to us
Of woman and man,
Of lovers and cheaters.
Sing for the droners and loners.
You can warm chilled hearts
And can save the doomed.

Sing to me
Of the promise of new love,
Of love that mingles joy and some pain.
Serenade my sadness away,
Soothe my soul.
Release my rage,
Caress my broken heart.

Ah bard of the blue,
Sing of the bad and the glad,
Sing of great times to be had.
Tonight, be my muse
And get me out of these blues.

 

__________

Michael James O’Neill has worked in the world of education as a teacher, as a consultant and as a principal. He lives part of the year in the beautiful Beauce region of Québec, Canada, and the other part in the heart of South America: Cochabamba, Bolivia. He has written textbooks and materials for students of English as a second language elementary and high school levels. His fiction has been published in Foliate Oak and The Legendary.