Why?

Why?

A thousand places you could choose to hang your hat

but you come here, night after night

you sit on your barstool, watching me surreptitiously

through a veil of smoke and haze

you never speak or acknowldege my presence

but I can feel you there watching

from the shadows and murky silence

feel your eyes roaming my skin and thoughts

longing to touch me yet again

your presence unsettles me

do you think to save me?

do you imagine I will finally look up and see you

that drunken recollection of the past

shall bring me to my sober senses?

I can't drink with a guilty conscience

I smile wryly, jaded by experience

order another, this one for the road

looks like it's time to move on

 

 

funny thing about these places

old haunts all look the same

and after a few drinks, it'll feel just like home

 

 

 

 

 

Reviews

[Frieda P]

Feels like reminisces of a one night stand, or a time when your mind was clouded and now you have much better judgement and or clarity, but it's still a bit tempting. You are the master of subtleties LA.

'I can't drink with a guilty conscience.'

Love it.

[LA Lorena]

thanks Frieda. You do know that I don't drink, right? :) and I never have, but it fit the purposes of this poem. thanks for reading.

[Frieda P]

Never, ever? Was my pleasure as always.

[LA Lorena]

well, rarely. maybe a glass or two of wine, but not what one would call drinking.

[Sheila Kline]

It is good to question the motives of another, especially when we are keen as to what is on the agenda, why are they set apart from another, what is it they are seeking. As we sit on the bar stool of life, and contemplate if it is worth the effort, if the "look" they give is a sincere one, if the "over and over again" pattern is going to continue, it is then we realize one might ask these same questions no matter where we are!
You have, once again given us much to think about! I especially like the ending!

[LA Lorena]

thanks Sheila. Sometimes it has to just end with one getting up and walking away, finding a new favourite haunt, as once those ghosts find you, they just keep coming back.

[KAOlmsted]

Why indeed. This brought me back to the days of when I used to bartend, and just like clockwork, "he" would come in...*sigh*

I haven't been to a bar in ages, do they still let people smoke?

Of course what I meant to say, instead of all that nonsense above, was good write. I enjoyed this piece a lot. Thanks so much for sharing it, LA ;-)

[LA Lorena]

I don't know. I don't go to bars. LOL. And I don't really drink. The drinking and the bar are just a poetic tool or metaphor in this instance. Glad you enjoyed it.

[John Alexander McFadyen]

You paint this cameo well and it feels sordid and down and out and hopeless. I see this all the time in my field.

[Salar Majak]

i love this, the ranting here is obvious, and the rage showes perfectly, i thought the perpose of drinking was to get rid of guilt ;) great ending too!!!!!!

[The Rock And Roll Cowbo..]

do you imagine I will finally look up and see you
that drunken recollection of the past
shall bring me to my sober senses?

i love those lines... they say insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results... I think that includes emotionally destructive relationships.

[LA Lorena]

I think you are right Dale, it does include emotionally destructive relationships.

[The Rock And Roll Cowboy(REBEL WITH A CAUSE)]

See I am right every now and then :)

[Sirius King]

that drunken recollection of the past

shall bring me to my sober senses?

I can't drink with a guilty conscience...great line


somber, thoughtful write

[LA Lorena]

thanks for reading!

[Sirius King]

ur welcome :-)

[quinfinn]

isn't that the truth! wow, you hit a nerve with this one. i am so familiar with this ritual. i love the detached interest you display herein. great!

[LA Lorena]

I like hitting nerves.. thank you!