tonight,
I decided it
was time to be
the other guy.
some men
cannot
figure out women.
I too,
was one of those men.
and
in earlier times,
I would take the same
strategy of defeat,
“nice guys finish last”
I’d say.
“someday they’ll all want me
and they won’t have me.”
but someday never
came.
and
the bars kept closing
and the girls
never went
home
alone.
so, when a Slovakian girl
with eyes
like a blue hawaiian
lost
on a subway in the
cool part
of new york
looked at me and
said, “
i want the american
experience”, I knew
it was time to change
tactics.
we went to
st. marks.
even if
she
didn’t dig the freak show
I knew we could
find weed. bob dylan
lived here I said.
cool.
bukowski
wrote right here, I said,
on this stoop.
cool.
I pointed at
the st. marks hotel.
“and that’s where
sid
killed
nancy.”
I knew something
about my facts was
wrong but I didn’t
stop.
she held the flask up
to her mouth.
I took it and
kissed her
before she could
say
cool.
later,
we said
goodnight
and I moved down
7th avenue.
I looked up
and
saw the hotel chelsea.
EVERYTHING
I told that curious
slovakian had been a lie.
bob, bukowski, dog diced nancy
they’d all lived here
not st. marks.
and then
I smiled
because
she’d
never know the
difference and
I
got to kiss her
anyway.
tonight,
I decided it
was time to be
the other guy, and
I won