Tim Gardiner

midnight, the stars and you

I haven’t noticed this wine bar before. The door is half ajar, beside a sign proclaiming an impressive array of cocktails and spirits. The late hour emptiness has its own appeal, the old-fashioned décor reminds me of a ship. There are skulls in jars, paintings of coastal storms and fully stocked shelves of gin and whisky behind the bar. The bartender’s sliver smile and penetrating gaze greets me. The photo they produce is of an abbey high on the open clifftop. The surrounding meadows of my hometown are familiar even if the ruins are not. Inside the abbey are dozens of unrecognisable people.

another glass
of bourbon
on the rocks
the past left
to one side

The town hall clock chimes twelve times. I say goodnight, it’s getting late. Outside, the cobbled streets have changed. The town hall is missing, the old library gone too. Stumbling around, I find a bench by the shore and sleep takes me. The vanity of Cassiopeia presides over a cloudless sky. By tomorrow evening, who knows where I’ll be drinking.

they say
a drunk finds
their way home
wherever
that is 

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Notes:

“Midnight, the Stars and You” is a British-American foxtrot song written by Harry M. Woods, Jimmy Campbell and Reg Connellu and published in 1934. It is notable for appearing in Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 horror film The Shining.  The tanka prose title is taken from the film, specifically the end credits song ‘midnight, the stars and you…’ by Ray Noble and his Orchestra in 1934 with the very gifted Jazz singer Al Bowlly.

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About the Author

Dr. Tim Gardiner is an ecologist, editor, poet and children’s author from Manningtree in Essex, UK. He has been widely published in journals and anthologies. Former co-editor of the tanka prose section of Haibun Today with Tish Davis.

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