youtube was down

i was going to stay in

but youtube was down

so i hit the street

and the entertainment

of my feet

walking, endlessly walking

these cold quiet streets

 

bar stool interruption

i’m seeing double

that is what i ordered

but i can’t tell if it’s

one finger or three

 

i think the devil

just slid into the stool

next to me

he offers me one of his oysters

but says the pearls aren’t free

 

if he really wanted to tempt me

he would have disguised himself

as a woman

 

he asks me if i can name

three songs about asian women

i name four

 

murray head

one night in bangkok

cat stevens

the year of the cat

david bowie

china girl

and the cure

watching me fall

 

“very good” he replies

“here’s your reward”

puckered lips start moving in

and i smash my elbow into his face

he crumbles to the floor

i throw a wad of cash on the bar

and walk out

 

wtf?!

 

i light a smoke

and keep walking

 

i thought i was weird

 

i hit a liquor store

buy a pint of irish whiskey

and another pack of smokes

 

go behind the building

darkness is the only dress

adorning the alley

open the pint

and light a smoke

 

cough and recite

“take a toke

and choke on smoke

until you’re broke

you laugh less joke”

 

right now i would die

for one of those women

from one of those songs

 

instead i find consciousness

won’t be long

once the pint is gone

 

i’ll close my eyes and wake

up in my own vomit

 

***