tonight

two whiskeys
cost the same as two of my meals
(or one good one)

not drinking
at home alone tonight
instead drinking
at the bar alone tonight

the wild ones
have all left town
there is no #
no point in picking up the phone
nobody to answer, "Where?"
when I say, "Drink?"
so there I am
whiskey in my hand
reading
The Pillowman

yeah,
that cheered me up.

then I work on lines -
act II - The Lower Depths
"In the old days, old man,
before my organism was poisoned with alcohol..."

None of these things
the whiskey
The Pillowman
The Lower Depths
distract me from the real

the one who ended up sleeping
in my bed one drunk night
(i emphasize sleeping)
the one i think about
asking to marry me
once a week or so
the one who escaped by marriage
and all the married ones I haven't met yet...

and the fact that I'm drinking,
as I'll be sleeping,
alone.