Closing Time

tonight my cabaret of fears

glowed and hummed.

a band played anxiously in

sharp keys.  the bartender

claimed not to have seen

Death around lately. but

she spoke she turned away

to polish a glass.

hans ostrom 

circa 1994/2021

Saloon Statment

You know (she said),
it's very important
to remember
the difference between
getting crazy
and
just being
a little
bit
drunk,
okay?



Hans Ostrom, 2012

Tavern Haiku

"I put the sip in
dissipation," said the old
guy, tasting the rye.


Hans Ostrom, copyright 2012

Dog Outside a Bar

*
*
*
*


Dog Outside a Bar


Memory is loyalty
to something not there.
I sit outside the past
like a dog outside

a bar, and what
I'm waiting for went
out the back door
hours ago. I furrow

my brow and alert
my ears and eyes.
And I remember.
The future wants

to take me for a
walk. It hooks
a leash to my collar.
And here we go.


Copyright 2012 Hans Ostrom