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cocktails

by Artur Desruisseaux

the 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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