small talk

i'm sitting alone
scotch
coke
smoldering
staring quietly

not upset
just not here
to chat

i'm sitting like that
when the
fuzzy little reject
stands right
in my sightline
gestures
"may i?"

i wave at the space in
front of me
but with my eyebrows
i shrug
too subtle
there are no fewer
than ten available
seats

he sits
i try politely
to avert my eyes
i find this sort
of uninvited
socializing
aggressive

he's a nice guy
but i feel it coming
something so dull
he sighs
stretches his neck
sighs
stretches more
finally
"getting ready to get up
early tomorrow..."

"thats ok, though.
i get to come down
here, have a
good time."

"well, not early..."

"10:30, 11:00..."

"not real
early...
but when you
usually get up
around 11:30, 12:00..."

christ
i haven't said
anything
why does he
keep going?

i'm sitting
like that
when cute young
things
tell me about
their dating
troubles

"i only attract
dumb gross frat
guys or older guys
who make
me feel
like i have
daddy
issues."

"he just
assumed
i would pay his rent."

"i'm having the
talk tonight."

i'm sitting like that
when beautiful
strippers come
stuttering with
social anxiety
and take selfies
with my phone

i'm sitting like that
when some
single mom
dumps hippie jargon
all over a guy
whose friend
just overdosed

i sit
while civilians
take shrapnel
and
cackling hyenas
bark orders

sit like that
while new
plagues spread

while new crazes
hit the dance
floor
while carpets are
ripped up
tiled over
demolished
then paved
pounded
crumbled
returned to sand