The Lady in Brown
Downtown Chicago
House of Blues Amstel Light 1am
Gentlemen, you are not allowed to take your beer out
Enjoy the music, fall in love
Outside tall thin immaculately groomed
The lady in brown business top and skirt
A midnight hostess
Black song
Comes up to him and asks
In a clipped whisper drawl
Where are you gentlemen from?
Wary of strangers he shrugs:
From the other side of the world
She smiles I can make that out from your accents
But where are you from?
He wearily says New Delhi, India
Her lips purr: What are you doing here?
Business, he says
At this time of the night?
It was more than a query
The perfect trap
She moves closer and asks his friend for a light
At this point the moment of reckoning
They slink away
Into the safe haven of Hotel Sax
Where in the bar next to the lobby
Jazz lights up the night life
And Desiree greets them with a smile.
20 September 2008
