A Nod to Hollywood Noir

...the classic film genre

A Nod to Hollywood Noir

 

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It was a quarter to two, perhaps three.

She'd been working overtime for days
trying to make ends meet,
when he walked in.

His name was Johnny.
Not to be confused with the other John's in her life...
Johnny Come Lately,
Johnny Walker,
or, Johnny B. Goode.

He was a cross between Gable and James Dean -
the actor, not the sausage.
Notorious for wearing black…and being quick.
( He could turn off a light and be in bed before the room got dark! )
The night he arrived at our heroine's bar,
he was suffering from a head trauma -
said he had fallen in love with the lady in red!
She offered him some sympathy
and a cold compress for his head,
which was a 12 oz. package of frozen peas.

The moral of my story is this -
A girl can never have too many John's in her life
or too many bags of frozen vegetables in her freezer.
Or, to paraphrase the words of a poet
( and that would be me )
let's just say,
“…she went to his head,

like a cold in the dead of winter.”

 

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Reviews

[Ken Simm.]

Here's lookin at this kid. I suppose when I sauntered into this poem I didn't expect it to be filled with this brilliant kinda of work from a classy dame like you. This is elegant. Ok blue/brown eyes? (Delete where necessary)

[Kelly Scheppers]

Wow, thanks so much, Ken! I am deeply flattered. (By the way, my left eye is blue green and my right eye is brown.)

[Ken Simm.]

So was my sister's eyes. And you are most welcome. Here's lookin at you kid!.

[Kelly Scheppers]

...love it!! ; )

[keith]

you have captured the essence of noir ...
although your rendition is kinder than reality as your characters have a softer edge you still manage to let their shady element shine ...
colorful ... lady in red, man in black ... classic

[Kelly Scheppers]

I appreciate that so much...thanks, Guy!

[MsJewel]

I'm a huge fan of old movies. The movie stars were so elegant - which is exactly how I would describe your poetry Kelly - elegant. Love this piece and the ending is perfect. Julie

[Kelly Scheppers]

They were elegant, weren't they? If I could have chosen a place in time to have been born, it would have been in the 40's. Many thanks to you, Julie!

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Wonderful and I could imagine Humphrey Bogart doing the voice over in his gritty, gruff voice. Glad Johns got a thumbs up lol!

[Kelly Scheppers]

...thank you, John!

[andrew mitchell]

Eloquently written fitting to those beautiful actresses of that era, they had class! But not Johnny he was always naughty in class!;)

[Kelly Scheppers]

I narrowed my list to Rita Hayworth, Gene Tierney, Lauren Bacall, but when I came across this photo of Lauren smoking, I knew it was it. So happy you enjoyed it, Andrew. She was a beauty, wasn't she?

[andrew mitchell]

As was many of that era depicted so sultry

[jacob erin-cilberto]

very clever piece...like watching an old movie with some dark comedy mixed in for relief...

love the pic of Lauren...Just like Bogey and Bacall...

[Kelly Scheppers]

...thanks, J!

[Linda Marie Van Tassell]

A little bit of peas never hurt anybody. :-) Love this! Your language is like a film all its own. Excellent!

[Kelly Scheppers]

I am thrilled you enjoyed it, Linda. Thank you so much!