They say if you pass the Bird & Beckett
in the wee hours of the morn,
you might hear the strains of the K.C. Blues—
‘ lest that’s according to Village lore.
Some say that just above the tenor sax
the voice of Samuel Beckett quips:
“Let us not waste our time in idle discourse!”
Bird fills in the silences with disquieting riffs.
“No, I regret nothing,” Beckett will confound
“All I regret is having been born,
dying is such a long tiresome business
I always found.”
All night long they jam together,
in a play of words and be-bop
‘til the Village awakens
“Quick, to the back of the shop!”
Where the two will curl up
in a corner dust heap
and saying goodnight
they’re soon fast asleep.
©Stephen Labovsky 2008