The bar was crowded
hanging were the lights
that will absorb you
into the night
because you stared so bright

It reflects
the animosity your eyes
was speaking to me
perhaps it was unicorn,
speaking concurrently

I am pulsating
the beat was at my throat
very much like my heart
on the edge for you

Tell me, hang - man
(I died, hanging for you)

The weekend is nearly here                                                             ­               My friends are finished playing
So they catch me on their way
To the bar that’s not a bar.

The waitresses can always tell
When brothers look the same
She gives us quite the laugh
In the bar that’s not a bar.

Others came, but a little late
Two tables is all it takes
Until they need to leave again
From the bar that’s not a bar.

Among the guys she’s alone,
Or were there three, who can see
It’s just another conspiracy
At the bar that’s not a bar.

All the teacher run away
With the fighting players,
And the servers drinking
Inside the bar that’s not a bar.

Flash of light and its around
A girl’s fame shared by all
He’s fine but she is shamed
Far from the bar that’s not a bar.

He’s looking straight ahead,
The mirror staring back at him
Love is working mysteriously
For the bar that’s not a bar.

It’s getting late almost two
Talking as they fall asleep
They see each other differently
Back at the bar that’s not a bar.

When we leave they say to stay
Need to check your identity
Guess they forgot all about me
Leaving the bar that’s not a bar.

Sitting down I finish writing
That I think I see the silver lining
Of having friends who see each other
At the bar that’s not the bar.

Then, she began to sing,
her voice limped out'uv the speakers,
crossed 'round my half-empty glass
and slid into the open stool at my side,
each breathy word was a breeze through my fingertips,
enveloping the space ‘round my heart
she sounded like rust colored leaves drifting down onto unbroken ponds
of a thick morning frost slowly melting away
of the first warm ray from a low winter sun's
and it was all I could do not to love her.

The music echoed off the walls
and caught in the corners
each note its own explosion of sound
erupting from her scratched dream-blue-guitar.
her fingers didn’t just pluck strings,
they caught a note on the edge of its sound
and pulled it into space, sending it through the airwaves
to float on through this dimly lit atmosphere
only a heavy breath away from falling back to earth,

She sang like the last lines a suicide note.
each verse felt vital and final
only to be replaced by the next
feeling vital and final,
each line a beautiful declaration that she belonged on stage,
the only world she ever truly felt alive.

and how I hoped the song would never end,
each little silence scared me
because I had not known how to listen until words left her lips
and I didn’t want to know if it could end.
until it did.
and I suddenly felt like the world was very much alone.

“Hey, nice show.”

         “Oh, thank you. Glad you enjoyed it.”

“That was beautiful. It was beyond amazing.  Can I buy you a drink?”

          “Um, sorry.  I gotta show in Missouri tomorrow and we’re driving
           there, tonight.”

“Oh. Ok. Well, good luck. You really are amazing.”

          “Thank you, again…”

Hurt
What a bad word
Worse then ****
Rip my heart out, it bleeds anyway
I'm gonna pack my **** and go
Down the road. To a place where a man can drown his woes.
The fluorescent Bud sign shines brite tonight.
I walk in.
Gimme a shot
And another.
Maybe one more.
I wanna see double and feel nothing
Cause I'm full of hurt
I'm torn apart
and that black hole in my chest is spinning
I'm sllluurriing my words
The ground feels crooked. Its at an angle.
I catch myself from falling
People are staring at me.
Don't look at me like that. Who the **** do you think you are?
You can all go to hell for all I care
Just as long as I got something to sip on
Or some hole to feel warm in
Or some stranger to wake up with.
I don't care.
I am full of hurt
I'm gonna take my **** and go
And on to the next one.

आंनि गुदुं सोलेराव
बिलिरलां नोँ बार
सुदेम अननायखौ होलां
गोरबोआव गोजोन लुफावलां
.
नोँल' गोजोन होयो गोसोखौ
सुदेम गुसु बिलिरनायजोँ
आंनि गोरबो बिखाखौ
नोङो सुग्लाय होयो दुंहाव सोलेरखौ
.
फुंआव नोँ मोसायो
रैरुब निहोर बिलाइजोँ
मिथिँगानि समायना---
गोथां सोमखोर बिफां बेन्दोँ
.
नोङो बिलिरलांफै खर'खौ
अननायखौ होनानै आंनो---
थाजिम होलां आंनो---
गोरबोनि खुसिखौ होनानै
.
बार नोङो आंनि हां
नोँनिनो मोजां मोन्नायजोँ
हगारो आं मेथाइ---
हगारो आं देँखो---
.
बेसे गोजोन मोनो
बिलिर फैयोबोला गोसोआ
नोँ आंनि सोलेर गोबाफैयोबोला
बेसेबा समायना जायो गोरबोआ
.
दैमा-दैसा बेसेबांदि बाज्लयो
नोँनि अननायनि खुदुमनायजोँ
बेसेबा समायना नुयो---
बिफां-लाइफांनि देमलो मोसानायजोँ
नोँ बेबादिनो लाबो खुसिखौ---

I don't remember passing out
The barkeep nudged me twice
I'd been out at least an hour
My drink, it had no ice

He told me I was finished
He said "Boy, you are done"
"You're playing roulette with a pistol"
"With six bullets, not just one"

"There's a taxi on it's way boy"
I took in every word
But in truth, my head was spinning
What he said, I never heard

Way back in the corner
Sat two vultures watching me
The barkeep saw them watching
And he said "Son, the taxi's free"

"There's a cot just off the kitchen"
"If you'd rather stay inside"
"You won't throw up in the taxi"
"It saves me money for the ride"

I nodded I'd accept it
He told me, "good, I hoped you would"
"The way your night is going"
"It just won't end up good"

"You're burning both ends of the candle"
"You're lighting the middle part as well"
"You may think you're off to heaven"
"Drink like this, you'll end in hell"

He said "out back there is another"
"Fought the bottle, fought it hard"
"He was lost, but came back stronger"
"He's doing well, but he is scarred"

"Tomorrow, you'll eat breakfast"
"Go out back, and talk a bit"
"Now, off to bed directly"
"I need to think a bit, and sit"

I thanked him, though I mumbled
The words were clear inside my head
But, the words that I said to him
Made no sense, so....off to bed

The next morning, over coffee
He told me, "I've watched you every night"
"I've woken you before, you know"
"What you're doing isn't right"

I told him of my troubles
He shook his head, and said "so what"
"We all have troubles sometime"
"We make the best with what we've got"

"You can come here if you want to"
"But, if you drink, I'll cut you off"
"This is your only chance son"
He said the last line, through a cough

He said that after breakfast
After I'd done the washing up
I was to head out to the alley
With fresh coffee, in a cup

He said "out back there"
"You'll find a man with a guitar"
"Give him the fresh coffee"
"He won't come here inside the bar"

I went out in the alley
And there exactly as he said
Sat a man, singing to no one
With a old ball cap on his head

I listened as he sang out
A voice as harsh as glass and sand
Playing guitar in the sunshine
Keeping beat, a one man band

He finished, and he saw me
Smiled as he took the cup
He said, "You don't know me"
"But, I knew you'd look me up"

The Bluesman drank the coffee
Told me to sit and stay a spell
For each minute that I listened
Was one less I was in hell.

In the back of Brewsters
where I always sit
watching the ladies dance
weaving their way through the gray cigarette smoke
clicking curves as the strobe light dances with them
Gloria serves up the intoxicating mixes
and teases the ***** hopefuls
who know they haven't a 'snowball in hell's' chance
the music thumps as Manny pummels
another joker who had a bit too much
as the hour of closing draws near
she slides by my table and smiles an invitation
I've been noticing her noticing me
as her 3rd partner heads to the head
leaving an opening for a 4th
not one to pass up an opportunity
I move onto the floor and quickly
work up a sweat that blends
with the rising inferno
'Smooth Operator' ends the chaos
and our bodies are now one
speaking in sighs and moans
of what is now obvious
this dance will not end at the end of this song
Gloria winks again as I grab my jacket
from the back of the chair
the smoke parts as we make our escape

I am alone now here at the bar
Beside me is a girl and a beer jar
I do not mind about the girl
Because my mind is now on swirl.

A shot of tequila and a lemon
Make a toast for being forever alone
Give me a another glass of ***
I am cold and I want to feel warm.

My heart and brain still feel the pain
Like I drank tons of liters of gin
Please make a drink for a heartbreak
And the bartender started to shake.

I tried all of these drinks and runaway
But still, I cannot drink you away
Give me another round of champagne
Just to forget and ease the pain.

I am a simple bystander.

Upon my slightly rough surface rests libations
Libations sometimes full of color
and others devoid of any light

Along for the ride one minute he or she is calm or quiet
Quiet, and the next moody
Moody or wildly mad with passion
Passion for words sometimes strung in nonsensical or hardly decipherable sentences
Sentences forming the harmonious song of social interaction

In this I delight.

On my course surface games are made,
Challenges are placed,
Games and challenges are played, and it all ends with uproarious laughter.

On my grainy surface words are sometimes written
Written along with shapes and symbols
Symbols which for reasons unknown increase my value ten fold

In the morning I am desired and required
Desired and required I am sought
In the morning I am loved.

I am a simple bystander,
In this I delight.