In Another Life

In an alternate universe today
I am a bartender
or patron
waking up at 12:00pm
to start my shift
arriving to serve
all the drunks
who don’t have a job
or have the day off
or have a job
but woke up with a bad case
of the “fuck its’
and called in
I am rail thin
with tight jeans
and a tank top
serving cool glasses
of “we don’t care no more”
with Sweet Home Alabama
or Magic Carpet ride
pouring out of the juke box
and people playing
some stupid
video poker game
or lottery
investing
or dwindling away
their well fare checks
student loans
or hard earned money
and it’s dark in there
and no one knows it’s daylight
on a Tuesday morning
or afternoon
until
the next customer
walks in the door
and the light comes pouring in
as a dim reminder
that all the good people of the world
are “hosing and scrubbing their cars
on their lunch hour”
or putting on their monkey suits
to conquer the ficticious jungle
one more day
and my laugh is cackly
and I cuss...a lot
and they buy me shots
of smooth comfort
and I belong to a biker gang
with something like
“Scars Lady”
on my jacket
and talk
about the ride this weekend
and everyone talks
about nothing of importance
and nothing in particular
except their old man
old lady
or baby daddy
or baby momma
and how their being done
so wrong
but for the moment
feel so right

~Jenny