“it’s not late, but it feels like it”

a hot chick at the laundromat
ceased being hot when I saw
the peanut-butter-shit smear
across her “everyday” panties

a girl at the bar next door,
blond, beautiful
burped so nonchalantly
I thought I might have moved to
Jefferson County, Oklahoma

a pregnant cop – in uniform – smoked
a cigarette near her car,
nervously checking
to see if anyone could see her –
obviously we are not safe here

I walked with my beer out of the bar,
picked up my whites,
nodded at the pregnant cop,
and went up my back stairs
to write about sadness in the dark.