Virelay for Bessie
http://www.maverickmagazine.com/articles/29/1/Virelay-for-Bessie/Page1.html
Ramón E. Martínez
Ramón E. Martínez grew up in New Mexico and Arizona. Poems from his full-length collection, The Receipt of Fern Seed have appeared in: A Poetry Mag, American Poetry Review, Balcones, Bilingual Review, Black Warrior Review, Cape Rock, Century, Contact II, Croton Review, Gila Review, Glens Falls Review, Graham House Review, The Greenfield Review, Inlet, Inscape, Panoply, Rio Grande Writer's Newsletter, Riversedge, Víaztlan, and the Virginia Quarterly Review. He is currently seeking a publisher for The Receipt of Fern Seed.By Ramón E. Martínez
Published on 10/1/1999
Speak softly when you speak of Bessie there.
Leave her poor soul alone.
Can't you see the woman's had her last affair?
Well, I'll tell you, you should have known.
Leave her poor soul alone.
Can't you see the woman's had her last affair?
Well, I'll tell you, you should have known.
Speak softly when you speak of Bessie there.
Leave her poor soul alone.
Can't you see the woman's had her last affair?
Well, I'll tell you, you should have known.
You'll never really understand until you have
your own:
She could sing those high
Notes as high as her heart must have flown.
Why?
I've heard her cry
When she'd sing the blues
About how hard she'd try
Not to lose
Another man, but now she's gone away.
Speak softly when you speak of Bessie there.
If they ask you, simply say:
"Can't you see that woman's had her last affair?"
Copyright © Ramón E. Martinez, 1999, 2009. All Rights Reserved.
Leave her poor soul alone.
Can't you see the woman's had her last affair?
Well, I'll tell you, you should have known.
You'll never really understand until you have
your own:
She could sing those high
Notes as high as her heart must have flown.
Why?
I've heard her cry
When she'd sing the blues
About how hard she'd try
Not to lose
Another man, but now she's gone away.
Speak softly when you speak of Bessie there.
If they ask you, simply say:
"Can't you see that woman's had her last affair?"
Copyright © Ramón E. Martinez, 1999, 2009. All Rights Reserved.