Last Train Home (drunken poem)
Got off work
at 11pm
in downtown LA
and took the last train home
to downtown LB.
Quiet train ride home,
late night workers like me
tired and going home
and the rest of the train,
thugs and drug addicts
and people in general destitution
riding the last train home.
Got home at 12:15am
and all the places that sell beer
were closed
except for the bars and clubs,
so i go to Clancy’s down the street
and order a shot of Jameson
and a pint of Guinness.
Bunch of Englishmen across the bar
being loud in an
Irish pub
as close as they’re going to get
to home around here,
and there’s a good reason
the Irish
refused to join the British.
So i downed my shot
and went outside
where it was cold and quiet
and slugged my beer.
The few minutes i was out there,
a couple drunk Brits came out to smoke.
One looked at the giant 4×4 truck
that was parked in front of the pub,
and asked me,
“Why do Americans drive such huge vehicles?”
“‘Cause we’re assholes.” I responded.
I wasn’t being confrontational, i just didn’t care.
“I’m just saying because in England we all drive such small cars.”
“What are you doing drinking in an Irish pub?” I asked.
“You don’t have any British bars in the area.”
“Sure we do, just go down Broadway and you’ll see a bar called “The Brit.”
“Thanks, we’ll check it out tomorrow.”
“Have fun.”
I finished my beer and went inside and got another.
When i went back outside they had already rejoined their group inside
and i could hear them
telling the rest of them about a bar down the street called “The Brit.”
The bartender laughed and informed them it’s a gay bar.
I closed my tab out… With tip it came to $22 for a shot and two pints of beer.
Feeling a little ripped off, i noticed the glass in my hand was pretty nice,
an authentic Guinness pub glass,
so I took it for a souvenir.
It made the $22 tab not so bad.
Feeling the buzz come on
and seeing strangers
and
rapists and
dangerous crack addicts still lurking about
at 1am i was ready for scraps
as i walked to Louis Burger in the hood (which was closed to walk-ins)
i was ready for a weapon to get pulled
or anyone coming incorrect.
Without a lover, i get reckless…
Without a true love in this life, i have emptiness.
