whiskey sours
whiskey sours
by halifax
mama’s secret recipe
Saturday
this town’s last decent man just skipped bail
to scour the different parking lots for one truck
he’s on a mission to lead Junior out of that life
it could take hours to find him
his prodigal son been said to be seen lingering
between the bar and rail, casually cow tipping
twenties at the strip club, calls it “child support”
running up a tab he can’t pay
like his daddy, he’s a clean shirt ranch hand saint
keeping practical mothers off the exhibition stage
in his lap, safe from local pushovers milking beers
who were just looking to fight
Sunday
It’s staggering how quick these sobering men bond
in rows spaced out to form stable pillars of community,
proper women holding them up as broken examples
shared during Sunday morning found-salvation stories,
the whole Bride of Christ savoring the witness service
tart regret thrown back like shots chased by lime and salt
Just learned a little secret about this poem…there are white letters here.
cool.
Matthew 5:13 (21st Century King James Version)
13″Ye are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and to be trodden under foot of men…poem brought to wonderful conclusion incorporating this: “tart regret thrown back like shots chased by lime and salt”.
Artful construction. ‘…casually cow tipping
twenties at the strip club, calls it “child support”…lots of humor mixed in with real life degradation here. We laugh and cry at the same time.
‘clean shirt ranch hand saint’ sweet!
great poem. i love every line.