poem of the day 06.09.09

a companion poem to yesterday's:

drunks in the bar again

i watched her shout
at the bartender
and play with her smokes
and prod her old man
to drink his beer
and the place had gone dead silent
since they came in
and he must be her father
a moment ago i thought
she was going to attack me
because i’d stared at her a little too long
but all she wanted to do
was say hello
they’re really drunk
my wife says
i know, i say
it’s pretty depressing stuff
how come?
i just had visions of myself
getting like this
bombed out of my mind
no good
dragging my old man
into some joint like this
on a rainy wednesday night
my wife looks at me
while the old drunk begs
the bartender for a light
that won’t happen, she says
you’d never let it get that bad
i suppose, i say
then we finish our drinks
in silence
and get the hell out of there.