And then a guy who looked a lot
like The Honky Tonk Man in 1987
smashed a guitar over the head of a guy
who was stuck being The Honky Tonk Man in 2011.

And a star-struck invader from 1997
felt the world around his heart grow smaller,
tighten up, and strangle a critical muscle
for unrelated reasons.

The whole damn night has been a surprise.
Aggressive heat gets caught in the updraft
of 100 strong roaring until blood sounds like mouthwash,
and finds itself mixed up with the unfortunate number
of people in the building who didn’t shower that day.

Surprise number one was the door that took him
from Philadelphia to the slip-slide-sink concrete
stomping grounds of Florida.

It calmed him down to check his bank account
after the fact,
and find hundreds of dollars missing.

It was soothing to get a text message from his wife
that told him she and the baby wouldn’t be there
when he got back to Philly.

He felt the consequences of this and that scare him into
staring up at the streetlights beckoning thousands of insects
to retire in blinding style.

He loved that threatening tranquility
like a child loves a monster
who at least has the decency to speak the same language.

And then he went about walking around,
remembering over and over again
that he didn’t know a soul in that town.

It wasn’t worth the profound danger
to trust unfamiliar strip clubs.
He didn’t want to lose the lunch money
that was going to get him back home.

If he did go back home.
The arguments had more distinct voices
than the history of 90’s cartoons.

And he still isn’t sure if the decision he made
is actually what happened.

All he knows is that the guy who looked like
the 1987 Honky Tonk Man hung around the parking lot
for an hour after the show,
and not one person pretended to want his autograph.

And that wasn’t a surprise,
he was tired of those by first bell,
but it was pretty funny.

03/10/2013

Posted on 03/11/2013
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