In Hart's Tavern

An unfamiliar melody sings
from hidden speakers, lifts
my mood. The day is overcast
and it is raining. Inside, I wait.

I eat spinach and alfalfa sprouts
while wishing for a cheeseburger.
Salad is for rabbits. I feel good
about myself.

Marketing is the devil's work.
I have a graduate degree in marketing.
It turns out I am an easy mark
for hucksters. I wait for that magic feeling
the act of purchasing delivers.

Chilled to my innards I wish
for a warm body to mitigate the cold.

I consider the innocent
who have died in school shootings.
Satisfaction does not come
with arrest and conviction.
Nothing can bring them back.

Megan, the hostess, is reading
H.P. Lovecraft in Spanish.
She has just returned from
teaching in Costa Rica.
She wears her youth
like a lover's good-bye.