Between Midnight and Closing

Meagan is not Tim

That is apparent from the outset

I tell her about

all the late Sunday nights

spent on a barstool

deep in the decaying guts

of downtown Los Angeles

I tell her

how I got to know Tim

bit by bit

each late Sunday

in those hours between

midnight and closing

Those hours when

everything happens

when nothing happens

She is young

and slings her drinks

with the confidence

of a professional

I rise from the stool

and when she asks if

I would like another

I answer in the negative

That I merely wished to say

goodnight

We say goodbye

and goodnight

and wait for another Sunday night

to say hello