Ballad in B Natural

Copyright © 2008 Judith J. Bentley

My little bambino,
browse here where there is
no balderdash or baloney --
only this ballad
as bare as a beggar.

I was born in Babylon a beast of burden
I was bastardized from birth without a bill of rights
They said they were my benefactors
They said they were benevolent
They badgered and bantered
and bathed me in rituals of bondage
They hired a bandit barber to shave me bald
and forced me to kiss the Blarney stone
They baptized me into the blues.

I was baffled by their bizarre ballyhoo,
their barbarous beadledom
and all their bawdy binges
till I heard a bargeman singing in baritone
I saw him barefoot-- he saw my ball and chain
and took me off their blacklist
and gave me a boxing glove.
He became my ballast and bandage.
I became his after-dinner bride.
Now I am binary; now I am bittersweet.

Now, my bud, I build brackets around you.
May they be balances for your blossoming.
May your bloom be bounteous.
May you never be bewildered or bamboozled.
May you find your bailiwick outside bedlam.
I wish you bon voyage for you are on your way.

This bulletin is my only blueprint.
My blunders are by-gones buried in my bosom.
Remember my face if you need a barometer.
Balboa is the brother I would have given you.
He would never have betrayed you.
Bon soir, little blackbird.