The Trav’ler & Barflies
2 Poems by Redd Butler
The Trav’ler
The wind chimes danced ‘bove autumn leaves
while the robin bore the crown.
A sweet duet, for those that grieve
for the trav’ler we brought down.
The lilies bobbed along in time
as we passed the cenotaph.
Fifty strong, a heartbroken line
all along the broken path.
Bukowski was no use to me
or Hughes or young T.S.
So, I murmured psalms, twenty-three
and prayed the Lord would bless—
Bless all those who were present then,
from his glory there, afar.
And guide the trav’ler he set free
like the Shepherds by the star.
Barflies
Author’s Note: Barflies is a confessional poem of reminiscing with my atheist grandfather, sharing memories; his death near, it became a wonderful moment where he chose to pray with me.
You sat in your chair
and spoke with the whisper of scratched vinyl.
Your face like candle wax
that bore your contagious, slanted smile.
We reminisced in our childhoods;
yours filled with soot-stained windows and doodlebugs;
mine, with barflies and your laughter
on Sunday afternoons.
—Sunday afternoons
that ended with me riding my bicycle drunk
to the house made of mud,
where I would dream of the barflies
that tap danced on my pint glass.
I told you of Jesus, to which you responded
that faith was a young man’s game.
Yet you prayed with me
just to get a taste of the joy I was drinking.
You had taken up smoking
after half a century’s absence.
You had become bored with old age
and ten cigarettes a day helped pass the time.
And so, we passed the time together;
passed what little time we had with fish ‘n chips and music.
Guy Mitchell singing the blues and you
proclaiming “They don’t make them like they used too.”
I found myself gazing
at your candle wax face
watching the flame go out;
counting the blessings that I will long for.
The barflies and the bitter;
Guy Mitchell singing the blues;
you calling me “Boy.”
Time can be a real bastard.
Redd Butler is 31 years old and from the United Kingdom. He writes faith-based works and is currently working on his first book. He recently became a “street pastor” for Ascension, a UK Christian charity.