Monday Monday Night

made it through the god forsaken day

fake deadlines fake people real hassle

it’s all behind me now i’m clear

corner bar cornering me in walk through the door

I should be in night school classes but I’m not

college just isn’t for me

I don’t know what is but my head is buzzing from thinking about it

looking forward to Monday Night and football on TV

don’t know who’s playin’ tonight and it don’t matter

playing Pac-Man in the bar before kickoff

Long John and me killin’ time and bottles of beer

discount beer night and that’s alright with me

friends, hangers-on, girls with no other place to go

guys with fake first names

play some pool talk a better game than play

game starts barside with a bowl of popcorn

some peanuts and beef jerky

trying to get the number of the cute brunette

playing coy I ain’t got the patience no more

can’t hear what the announcers are saying-probably just as well

A Sunday Morning In

sunday morning

hershey chocolate pillows my best friend

churchgoers walk past my dirty cracked window

old ladies mostly, colorful babushkas tied tight to keep out the cold

some younger women dragging their kids with them

in pastel dresses and little suits for little men

a few big men here or there

most of them are nothing but hypocrites

going to the hypocritical church, who they hiding now?

I can hear the bells of the cathedral

ding-donging into my brain 

must be a couple of hours until football

weave into the kitchen looking for daylight

a coffee cup and some hot water will do

instant coffee, some brand I can’t pronounce but it’s cheap and good

don’t know how people can eat breakfast

eggs, toast, cereal, sausage, pancakes, waffles

makes my stomach turn just thinking about it

maybe I can do some toast with butter and cinnamon or grape jelly

i got chips, some salsa, beer, and a roast beef sub 

I bought yesterday at the grocery store 

a candy bar and some salted peanuts in the shell

all I need for an afternoon of watching football

hope it’s a good game they’re showing

damn! Redskins versus Vikings...well, at least it’s a game

head still not clear, too much and not enough to drink last night

4 o’clock games on the west coast

played on baseball infields in shadows of light towers and grandstands

caught some in between naps

getting too damn close to monday morning and back to work

A Saturday Night Out

pull into the lot of rocks and glass

walking the streets a January night

past cold giant shadows and old brick buildings

built long ago by men gone long ago

in a time long ago sorely missed

V.F.W post, church thrift shop

mexican restaurant already closed

taverns with blue and red neon signs in the window

open flashing an old friend welcoming

cold beer dark bar no starry-eyed dreamers here

ripped leather bar stools that have sat many

floors with sticky black and white checkered tile

the white is now a waxy yellowy cream

a place to hideout--hideaway 

have a few laughs, cry a few tears

drink a few whiskys, drink a few beers

pretty much the regular crowd

play some pool on the worn-out green velvet

stretched over worn out wood with cigarette burns 

pretty indifferent colored balls fall into pockets

hours pass deeper into the night

last call now, crowd thins out

miss america ain’t coming in tonight

turn up the collar on that old black leather jacket

cold air bites like junkyard dog--goes right through you

car seat stiff--starter groans--motor rumbles

gravel crackles, few cars on the street

turn the heater on

watch for police—drive ever so careful—keep it between the lines

over bumpy railroad tracks and evil potholes

into the complex, basement apartment--nothing special

fall into the perennially unmade bed

no alarm--it was saturday night

now it’s sunday morning