Wednesday, March 26, 2014

poem of the day 03.26.14


gun #3

there is clarity in being drunk
and then there is casing the pittsburgh night
too many beers
too many vodka and sodas
with just a touch of lemon in them
me and colby and calvin and steve
freezing and bitter from being ignored by women
who only wanted too many beers
too many vodkas
and to be left alone by the likes of us
i don’t know who was worse
me or colby or calvin or steve
drunk and staggering the oakland section of the city
praying for release under statues of shakespeare and galileo
begging for warmth
drunk and aggressive and rejected
too young to know any better
we spied someone in a craig street phone booth
shouting into the night
causing his own hooligan ruckus
there is clarity in being drunk
oh, but there is safety in numbers
as we made toward the commotion
too many beers
too many vodka and sodas
with just a touch of lemon in them
me and colby and calvin and steve
pounding on the phone booth at all sides
scaring that motherdfucker out of his wits
silencing him
when he opened the door we thought
we had the upper hand
to do what?
until he unzipped his coat
lifted his shirt
showed us the butt of something that glowed
black and metal
then asked in that same, loud, lunatic voice
would you all like to be shot tonight?
as we scattered into an urban abyss
me then colby then calvin then steve
too many beers
too many vodka and sodas
to just know well enough to leave a man alone.                          

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