it always smelled like beer.
like beer and **** and sweat and mold.
palpable smells spread liberally onto the air
          and breathed in through our laughter
          and out through our shameless belting of the songs
that played again and again and again...

we all knew all the words, even if we didn't
          know what the song was called,
which we could laugh about
gathered around the sink to catch a drink
          and ride out the pounding in our head.
the floor was sticky. audible smacks plinked out
to the beat in the background as strangers
           with familiar faces wove in and out
of the tapestry of the night again and again and again....

and we were happy here,
made artificially warm by the concoctions
we spooned out of buckets or serving bowls.

          and that's how we expected it to be.
again and again and again...

when the lights came on and
the pale carpet showed its spots and
the cups and crumbs and twisted nails bore themselves again,
          we smiled at them again anyway.
something charming in the musty sincerity of the walls
          slick with the condensed moisture of our sweat and saliva.
our breath bringing the surfaces to life
with our light.

all in one place.

again for the the last time