10,768 Poem by Michael Ernst

I'll make this story short, quick from start to end
Met her in a bar one night, introduced to me by a friend

It was my night job, clearing bottles and busting heads
I was in uniform, boots, jeans, cowboy hat and OUTLAW shirt of red
I recall well what I was doing, but not exactly what was said

I was fixing a punching bag machine while a buddy watched over me
Because wearing a red shirt in a room full of drunken bulls is not the safest place to be

Soon a girl I knew walked up and introduced me to her friend
Well, I looked up from under that Resistol hat, and knew nothing would ever be the same again

I know I promised a short story, and I should move this one along
But it gets a little tough to talk about from here, and where it all went wrong

You see I had plans to spend our lives together, and walk off into the sunset hand in hand
But now I see it was not to be
I was just a 10,768 night stand

(2012)