cursive circumstances
one story bleeds into the next
repeating familiar themes
beating them into the ground
you order another beer
and put your head back inside college ruled paper
ink flowing decades before becoming
prevalent on body & soul
old words bleeding into new
on occasion you come up for air
breaking by bringing smoke to your lungs
carelessly observing patrons scattered about
set in place by an outside hand
you’ve seen this one before
been here a hundred times you tell yourself
each shot a variation of the same scene
one time storming out irrationally
the next bleeding the jukebox dry
may two thousand twenty
copyright j matthew waters
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