Tiny Moments of Light

artwork: ralph murre

Tiny Moments of Light
by William Taylor Jr.


A pretty girl
in a sad old bar
in a sad old neighborhood
on a Wednesday afternoon,

seeming out of place
with the old men
quietly drinking beer
the color of the graying wallpaper
and the drizzling rain.

She smiles and smokes 
thin cigarettes
as the old men buy her drinks
and tell their stories.

Her laughter is music;
her eyes are kind and more alive
than the sun
as she puts her coins in the jukebox.

When her songs play she leaps
from her stool
to dance in the tiny space
between the tables

with a joy that is real,

with a joy that proves 
some kind of beauty 
still exists in spite of everything,

She dances
and the old men watch
with grateful smiles,

thankful for unexpected magic

and tiny
moments of light

to remember and keep with them
through all the dark and ugly hours.


~ previously published in Bar Code (Little Eagle Press)

The Gathering

cover art: emmett johns

The Gathering

by William Taylor Jr.

It was a Monday night at the Jury Room

and maybe it was the beer but

the bartender looked just like

a fifty year old Charles Bukowski

and the guy at the table

with the bikers

could very well have been

Richard Brautigan

in his prime.

I watched as he sat there drinking beer

and telling funny stories.

I lit a cigarette and decided I was

James Dean

and suddenly we had

quite a party going on.

~ previously published in Bar Code (Little Eagle Press)