Is drinking alone worth the price paid,
A bus ticket punched to celebrate
This joy-filled season on the rocks?
Pour another soda with cheap scotch.
Try not to let cracked ice interfere,
Freeze amber memories, dry old tears
That straggle alongside sweat on stained glass
As another pass at one more long-legged coed
Falls with flat, laughing thud on grimed floor.
Penalty earned for opening closed door,
Unlocked blonde remembrances,
Yesterday’s kiss, last year’s fling,
Unfortunate that it’s impossible to recall
One damned thing why
Or who, or when, or where, or care
What her name was, her favorite color…
Her eyes might have been blue, as I am,
Not golden, like this drink on etched bar.
Is it merry New Year, or just happy Christmas?
I’ve lost count, so many years out in the cold
Where black and white faded to neutral
And drinking alone meant safety, not sorrow.