A 20 year old

Dirty kid,

With student

Teacher clothes,

Undergrad's books and

Never enough silence.

I waited for

Her.

She never came to

Ask me what I was reading.

Billy came to

Give me whiskey and

Tell me about the horses,

And the old

Cafe des Artistes,

The kitchen behind the wall that

Hadn't been used since he

Lost it all on the

Goddamn

Horses.

She never climbed the

Crooked thin

Staircase to

Ask me,

Honestly,

What I was reading.

It was always

Billy,

And his goddamn

Sad stories about the

Horses,

But he brought me the

Ring-stained

Tray,

And the

Single shot of

Jameson that,

Like butter,

Melted my tongue and

Made me not wonder

So much,

Where she was,

Instead of asking me

What I was

Reading.

If I had had more time,

I would have

had more time.

A dirty

25 year old

Kid.

Still dirty,

Still waiting.