one from the dark ages, late summer

tony b in the parking lot after work scoring
some pot off the dishwasher,
bitching about the price,
about his life in general,
leans up against your car and closes his eyes

says his wife used to be hot

says her tits went to hell after she had the kid and
he pulls out his wallet,
shows you a picture he took of her getting out of the shower to prove his point,
says i was always bugging her to shave her bush but
she never would,
and then he says what's done is done

laughs and says someone should
make a movie out of his life

looks at the stack of books in the back seat,
asks what kind of fag writes poetry?
but not like he expects an answer

not like you're really there, and then he
says he's got a trailer out on cemetery road now,
lives with some fifteen year-old runaway and her cousin and
he's pretty sure one of them's pregnant

both of them pretty hot walking around in
nothing but their panties all day long, but he's
getting tired of their nagging

says he's thinking about heading down
to north carolina,
maybe see if his old man is still alive,
maybe find a girl who left him a few years back

says he's looking to sell his waterbed if anyone's interested,
his big-screen tv,
some cars he has that are good for spare parts,
and then he asks to borrow twenty bucks

asks if you've got a smoke

says he's been trying all goddamn day
to get the taste of blood out of his mouth