Cotton Club

Jazz band was in full swing when Mama came back,

Swaying with that flirty smile that seduced Daddy

As she set down some cold ones on the bar.

Sinai sat beneath the bar, watching that skirt shake

As she fixed up some food and lit cigarettes.

Clang of dimes hit the bar just as the crescendo

Filled the bar with life and the people applauded

With fast tapping feet and moving skirts

That occasionally clouded Sinai's peephole.

One day, she'd be on that stage, singing

The deep sultry sorrows of the Blue Lady

And her cheating husband who's away

While she sits in the empty house, swigging

Jim Beam and wondering when the hurt will end.

The men will hoop and holler at her,

In an emerald dress with gold earrings,

Saying they'll treat her better like she doesn't know

Already that men are trouble that write songs.

Resting her head against the vibrating bar,

A smirk spreads across Sinai's face as she dreams

Of standing there, singing the sorrows of her mama

Who sways her seductive hips to pay the rent

Now that her man ran off with someone else,

And making enough to help them both escape.