The Bongo Club
Shadow land, the labyrinth of human dreams,
Cosmetic soldiers of java espresso amphetamine,
Mind blank broken synapses and plastic palm trees,
Swaying to the electric fan's breeze,
Mutated modern art cell nuclei,
Split and collide on the moldy walls,
Fractured grin of James Dean mythic pandemonium,
Scatters pentagrams down on the young Beat crowd,
Black leotard chick illuminated by pale gold candlelight,
Scheming visionaries in the corner roaring like endless tides,
While ageless Latin bongo beat reverberates this mausoleum,
Persephone and Demeter sit at the bar,
Riding the river to the underworld of oblivion,
Plastered bar flies drifting like so many indifferent minnows,
To the candlelight flame shining on this evening's bedazzled,
Through seas of candlelight and shadow, I swim toward your dark mystery,
Bongo Club, shadow land refuge to life's wandering casualties.
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Drumming...
Wonderful write...love the imagery ...got me back to the 50's and 60's...I love James Dean Lol...
Thank You
Thank you, Heavenoceanic! I love coffee houses. The Bongo Club was a real coffee house in South Beach, Florida. I used to go there to read poetry in 1991 and 1992. It was a nice lively hangout for eccentrics, poets and hip people. It had modern art all over the wall. My poem really describes it. I kind of miss the place. Hurricane Andrew came along in late '92 and caused alot of devastation. The Bongo Club closed permanently after that. My poem is probably the only written memorial to the place....
Shadow Land - Plastic Land - Exotic surreal landscapes
I so loved bathing in the beauty of this poem. Never was plastic beauty so enticing. And the bongo rhythms, give it a very spiritual heartbeat!
Also loved your explanantion of the poem's context! Quite a place!
Smiles and Light
AuraGem
Thank You!!!
Thank you for your very kind comments, AuraGem!!! I'm glad this poem imparts on you a taste of the bohemian atmosphere of the Bongo Club. It takes me back whenever I read it. Glad I could capture and share a moment of time in this Coffee House lost in the mists of time!
Sincerely,
Night-Flyer
Cool,
Cool, Daddio.
McMongrel.
P.S.
Check out my riff on the Nalgahide Preacher