Pinetop knew eternity,

The power of stopping time.

Hold yourself now,

And when I say get it,

You get it!

The piano rattles,

From New Orleans to Mexico,

Your city blues make dancing girls, and shots,

And smoke filled bars, beatific,

Make cut-time, the beat of your heart,

Make pictures real,

Make remarks fade,

Make memories drift like the heavy beat of the Mississippi.

Pinetop knew how

the sway of sound

and drifting blues can’t hold tears,

And when I say stop,

You hold yourself!

Crescent City, 1811,

Your first steamship of wide river sailed,

Bringing news faster than the clicking keys,

And stop.

A floating palace,

All jewelled and new,

And she smiles across a crowded room,

My heart holds its place,

Forever.

Your 1870 race.

A faster pace than we now live,

17 mph,

On crimson paddles,

And heavy summer days.

River boat gambling in white silk suit,

Her in a hooped skirt of blue,

And pretty red smile in waves of formality,

Oh lady luck, desire!

Where (the fuck)

Did those days go.

Back at the juke joint,

Pinetop still plays,

Pre rock and roll,

Plug in, plug out

No matter,

Love hurts no less,

And she is the same cream sepia print from the start,

I lost,

Before I was born,

Where (the fuck)

Did she go.

All fades again,

To now.

Rewritten 2014.