Smoking in a dark bar <br />Saroyan and me <br />Bottle half-empty, couldn’t be <br /> half-full. <br /> <br />The poetry of sad illusion <br />Finds its home in seedy joints, <br />The half-opened eyes of <br />Tight-bloused girls <br />High heels and lipstick <br />Skirts taunting above the knee, <br />The jiving beat of a jukebox <br />Playing oldies, <br />Pool sticks cracking cues <br />Solid to stripe behind the black. <br /> <br />Bartender pours another <br />Shot. <br /> <br />Inhale…Exhale… <br />There’s something cool about the rhythm <br />The track of breath from lip to lung <br />Makes us think, hidden in shadow <br />Somehow we’ve got a chance. <br /> <br /> <br />(Previously published in American Muse, Summer '01, Issue 3)<br /><br />Laurence Overmire<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/one-more-pack/
