thursday, october 26
outside the windows the newly
installed LED streetlights
are bright against the
falling snow, the
halfnaked trees and
wet dark pavement
the hills half-faded into
clouds and falling light
inside the dodgers and the
astros are tied on the
tv over the bar
bottom of the 5th
in the ads all the
grinning baseball guys
are wearing big
chunky watches
it's a quiet night
the tourist traffic
falls off this time of year,
if it never completely
disappears
the ones i can spot
for sure have that
midwestern look, a
kind of squared-off
masculinity
they've been friends since
college, i'm guessing, or maybe
highschool
the one with the beard has
a wife back home, young children
the taller one was in
the army for a while
or maybe he played football
at any rate there is
in how he holds himself
that thing you see sometimes in
soldiers and athletes
i imagine them
later on, leaving
the pot shop for
the airbnb,
small paper bag
in hand
they stand outside to smoke
in the october cold
the bearded guy coughs
for minutes on end
they haven't done this
since they were kids.