poem of the day 02.11.11

texting

it must be a night off
for the new bartender
because she’s sitting
on the other side of the bar
a shot of jack, a pint of bud
her drink choices mirroring b.j.’s
who’s sitting right next to her again
an arm slung around her shoulder
they are both texting each other
giggling, laughing
as devin reads the paper and nurses a bottle
i don’t know her name yet
all i know is that she’s replaced benny
she’s sitting in mona’s old seat
b.j. stops laughing, texting,
turns to me and says, hey man
then turns back to her
i sit there and drink my draft
check my watch and wait for my wife
as b.j. and the bartender keep it up
but eventually the fun has to end
seven o’clock comes
b.j. downs the last of his draft
shakes his empty jack glass
slaps the bar
says time to get back to the wife and kid
puts his coat on and leaves
doesn’t even slap me on the shoulder
that’s when she gets up and runs into the bathroom
holding her cell phone
she slams the door
the echo of her laughter
seeps through the thin walls of this joint.
devin looks up from his paper and says
she does that every time he leaves now
ain’t new love grand, i say
devin laughs, sounding sad
it’s just one more goddamned mess in this place, he says
one more mess that we’ll all have to clean up
just like benny and mona
and we both know what he means
by this.