Man Running From A Bar Poem by Jerry Ratch

A man alone in his paid-for living room, with his hands folded behind his head
A man running from a bar, a bald man seen from behind
Someone who made a wide circle to avoid your laughter

A man undressing at the side of the road saying: “How you doing? ”
“Okay. How you doing? ”
“Okay.” And we look – both of us liars

A tired man, eating pork chops. Someone who had to stop drinking
because the wine that strengthened the heart, weakened the veins
Because the time wasn’t right for acknowledging pain

Someone who’s watching the rain fall in rivulets, when it’s possible
for one’s innards to wander off among those tiny columns of rain and become lost

Of being so lost, while the rain continues to drizzle down

A long strand of hair hanging over the back of a girl’s chair at a reading
A man sitting behind her, rubbing only the ends of it between his thumbs
ready to let go

Red dog, dog with big teeth
Golden toes on a clown
Running man
Clown with yellow hat
Clown with red lips
A woman fleeing

Of course all of this presumes we have enemies

Woman with a rag doll, a pretty woman
with red straps over her feet
Does she still cross herself before having sex?

And what are they singing now
on the way to the liquor store?