The Bookseller's Conference Poem by Francis Poole

She was in town
selling a 'guide to finding happiness.'
She was wearing a grey suit
and white blouse with
an embroidered collar.
Her brown hair was mid-length
and unkempt.
She seemed a little nervous
bordering on shaky.
As soon as we introduced ourselves
She told me about
her former boyfriend
who recently died at 50.
He lived a happy life, she said,
drank, smoked, chased women.
Did he die suddenly? I asked.
Yes. He had varicose veins
of the throat from drinking.
They burst one night and
he started spewing blood.
They had to give him
6 pints of blood but
he spewed it all out before
they could stop the bleeding.
So he bled to death.
There was a long pause
and then she said, What a mess,
finished her drink
and walked away.