a small-town bar on Main Street.
the heavy metal band,
Dog Breath,
crashes into an off-key cover
of "Que Sera, Sera."
and the crowd spills outside
like a Disney animated brawl.
chaos moving with a strange, fluid grace,
madness wearing a grin.
inside, the bar is quiet.
the smell of spilled beer.
i thought i was alone
until i saw her at the far end,
lipstick smudged, hair undone,
but a fragile brightness in her eyes,
a flicker like stained glass
catching the last of the sun.
her scent hangs in the empty room.
she caught me staring
and slides her glass across the counter.
she didn't walk towards me---she drifted.
"you look like you're memorizing the exit door."
her smile dropping into the silence
like a coin tossed into the wishing well.
i tighten my grip on the glass.
"just looking for a reason to stay."
"then why haven't you left yet?"
"I'm hiding from the noise," i said
staring at my own hands.
"I like the quiet."
"so we stay?" she whispered.
"yes," I said, "if we walk out,
we'd have to admit
how empty we are."
"no one chooses what we become."
she murmured
as she walked to the exit door
and pressed her palm to the bar.
the door swung open.
the riot roared back in.
she holds the door a moment longer.
I rose into the space between us.