Sleeves

better days ________ www.coopradio.org
.
One night in piss-rank LA club
Art Pepper squints,
smoke sting tears from
cig in dry-leaf lip
rolls up his sleeves, says,
look, most of my arm
is clean

And falls away laughing
would've stretched the break
to midnight, except
this woman blows in
blue dress clinging to
caramel apple shoulders
says, please Art
play me a ballad slow and
sad as good sex,
will ya?

He smiles
180-degree sort of
what's this? grin
removes cig to kiss her
then clips on alto, goes
out to microphone
kisses her again
those sweet apples
kisses her with
caramel notes hiding
fingernails

He gives her
all he's got
bruise of love, pain
of a narcotic they don't
sell round here anymore
her crying as he
stands there
alone in a blue spot
touching her
like that, again
lips burning, arms bare
sleeves rolled way up
past the elbow

DL

Go to http://straightlife.org/
for news about Art Pepper's brilliant
autobiography, Straight Life, being
made into a movie.