you will want to mention the joke
to the barmaids at the counter where
people you grew up with have slobbered
onto the worn wood made from trees nearby
when the forest was cut down
and the school was moved
and the joke was first said
on a day very much like today
with the sun still up
sky still unaware
rose colouring everything
though it doesn’t feel as warm
as then when then was then
which is now
you say to the barmaid
who mishears you
juggles three beers
one of which spills on a friend of a friend
who you once was told had swallowed an entire medicine cabinet
to find little health
and who doesn’t notice the long pull of that grin
that you can bring
if just given the chance to say the joke
once more
she puts the tanks down
you open your wallet
she smiles
though not for long
it is empty
containing only sunshine
and a memory offered
later when others are forgot
in the wedged space of life
which is life
living life
that is not still but pushing onwards
to that silent stuck death
found in a punchline that says
a still life is still a life
until
slipping on the slobber
you are kicked out
by the stony shadow of friends
and the image of who
they thought you became
the sun is no where
but you are
you are
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