CHET BAKER
CHET BAKER
by Emily O’Neill
The way someone loves me in the dictionary
is as good as any other. I keep looking
for the proper sun to lace my tongue with.
To burn on me for days.
There’s an arrogance when the solo hits:
it’s the paginated clamor of car crashes
I keep beside me in the bed.
But I always knew I would be lucky.
I have that thing about my heart.
Emily O’Neill sparkling crystalline poetry sounds right in her riffs trial, tribulation and tribute to Chet Baker’s spirit knowing how one fall crashes for us all except one’s heart. Congrats!