cento after K. Wells
I.
Surely there’s a place to rest
a tortured mind.
Since sundown
I’ve been walking with these blues:
the blue of your eyes,
a well with no water.
II.
You see her there
at the bar
next to Jukebox Lane
just beyond the moon.
It was you who lied:
“She’s no angel.
Her wings are not real.
Everybody’s somebody’s baby.”
As sure as there’s heaven
beyond the sun:
a woman never forgets
the little things you do.
III.
When your time comes,
I wonder what you’ll do,
the waltz of the angels,
the moonlight, you.
Each Sunday afternoon
do you expect a reward from God?
IV.
As I sit here tonight,
in Heartbreak, U.S.A —
the jukebox playin’,
four walls to hear me
“It’s a shame that all the blame
is on us women.”
V.
Let the sunshine in.
Face it—
A honky tonk woman’s
as good as a honky tonk man.
READ MORE:
Female songwriters in Nashville share stories of sexual harassment [NPR]
Legislation addressing sexual harassment in music business has been killed [Nashville Scene]
The dollars and desperation silencing #MeToo in music [Noisey/Vice]
Poet’s Note: All lines from this cento are from songs recorded by Kitty Wells.
Professional editor J. Todd Hawkins writes and lives in Texas. He is the author the chapbook Ten Counties Away (Finishing Line Press). His poetry has recently appeared in Rattle Poets Respond, AGNI, The Bitter Oleander, The Louisville Review, Bayou Magazine, and American Literary Review.
Editorial art of Kitty Wells by J. Spagnolo.
