cocktails by Artur Desruisseauxthe cocktail waitress said "I've got another beer for you"
"yeah, that's great" he stuck 2 dollars on her serving tray
he pressed max bet again
how stupid
all these people sitting at these machines, thinking they are going to win
she came back again
"cocktails"
"can I get a vodka on the rocks"
he pressed max bet again
nothing
he was losing money quick
he always lost everything
maybe because it wasn't his in the first place
or maybe because he was just a loser
a couple walked by
they were arguing
"you don't touch me anymore, you don't kiss me, you don't hug me" she was fat and in tears
he looked stupid
"goddamnit, you really know how to ruin a good time" he said
at least he was alone
he had been alone for many years
it was him
but sometimes it was her too
the cocktail waitress came back with his vodka on the rocks
"vodka on the rocks"
he gave her 5 dollars tip "thanks"
"good luck" she said
he drank the vodka, it was mostly water
he pressed max bet
the machine starting ringing and making noises
it was a bonus round
"watch out for the McNasty brothers"
"shit" he said
I tapped the lady next to me
"watch out for the McNasty brothers"
"Huh" she said
"they are goddamn gold thirsty thieves"
"who?"
"the McNasty Bros."
"Oh"
the cocktail waitress came back
"how was that vodka on the rocks?"
"oh it was so goddamn goooood"
"excellent"
"I gave her a another five"
"can I get you another"
"no thanks"
I watched her walk off, she had chunky legs
back on the street I started walking back towards my hotel room
there was an old man in the street
sitting down
his head was in his hands and he was crying
a large pool of piss was coming from his pants
he was full of shame
I was in the armpit of America
it was hot and it looked bad
95 degrees with 95 percent humidity at 12 am
back in my hotel room I poured another drink
I opened the window
I could see the neon lights down below
so sad
so so fucking sad
I closed the window
and went to bed 07/25/2012 Posted on 07/25/2012 Copyright © 2024 Artur Desruisseaux
Member Comments on this Poem |
Posted by Jim Benz on 07/25/12 at 04:53 PM At some point, one of the "he"s seems to transform into "I". Also, there seems to be an unintended set of quotation marks. All that might be purposeful or it might be just errors that occurred during the process of writing. But, despite any of that, or any confusion on my part while reading, I thought this was a terrific poem. |
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