everything seemed fine,
car was serviced,
eye doctor gave me the thumbs up,
picked up a few things at the grocery,
including the right ingredients for chicken pizza,
traffic wasn't bad,
Oscar Peterson on the car stereo,
one more stop,
the finest of retailers,
the retailer of brewers,
"24 Sleeman Original Draught please."
The trunk was loaded and shut,
I headed home.
When things go smoothly,
I find myself waiting for things to go wrong,
pulling out the groceries,
I tugged a little too hard on the box of beer,
it tore and fell over the edge onto the pavement,
an explosion of froth and glass,
a puddle of gold,
I felt the pity filled eyes of the passers-bys,
"Oh look at that poor drunken man...he broke all his booze,"
they would mutter,
"Hey I'm sober! I dropped the case!
Why don't you mind your own business!" I would yell.
With bloodied hands I gathered up the glass,
bagged the unshattered remaining,
and went in,
I put the remaining in the fridge,
soon they were chilled,
I popped the cap,
with bandaged fingers I threw it back.
It was good.
It was cold.
It was what I thought it would be.
24 minus 8 leaves 16,
no hole is as big as it seems.
4 comments:
I think you've got a strong message of assumption here. Those can bring you down.
For me it was broken glass outside the high school dance.
Enjoy the 16.
A sweet 16 of a post, Dox. Not because of the misfortune of the 24 carat spillage, but because of the verse in which you described it.
The Pursuit of Happiness! I loved that album -- bought it on vinyl when I was a wet-behind-the-ears 1st-yr undergrad in Toronto back in the day. Then in 2000, when I had the problems of an adult on my head and my shoulders, I was back in TO presenting a paper at a conference. One afternoon, while scrambling to finish the paper over a carafe of Second Cups, who wheels in but Moe Berg on roller blades. With no cigarette dangling, he careened his way to a table where the guy from the Skydiggers was sitting.
Tying in TPOH was the prize of the story. Great tale, Adam. Woeful - but ultimately hopeful. Maybe you'll enjoy the taste of the 16 more - maybe 24 would have made you take it for granted. Maybe.
Post a Comment