By artdog28@webtv.net
Date: 14 September 1999

sitting in a bar

Sitting in a bar
staring through an empty glass
at the wooden table top.

I saw a Pileated Woodpecker in the woods today,
the crow-sized sculptor hammering away at a Box Elder.

They say in the spring time
a woodpecker "drums"-
hammers away at trees, telephone poles, gutters, hubcaps-
anything-
to summon a mate.

I ponder railing my forehead into that glossy hardwood table,
then glance around at my company.

The waitress, bags under her eyes, and her lips hang like a deflated inner tube.
Nice earrings, though.

I pay the tab 
leave a tip
and watch my misty breath on the walk home,
back to the woods.