Tony the piano player
Perched
Like a sports bar TV high in a corner
At the end of what was then the longest oak bar in town
Handed up to him were whiskies to his hand
Blind
His eyes lifeless and cocked straight up
He would wave gutty thankyous
Tony the piano player
Not square
Pudgy hands
Pudgy fingers
Smooth through
Honeysuckle Rose
Misty
Then Theloniously on
Skylark
Stardust
Any ice today, Lady?
McGruffly
Then
Pouring onto the street
The riffs
The whiffs of White Owl panatelas
& ten cent beers,
A dance for raucous sailors and college boys,
That was 1959 I think