Your Town

stuck between
no place
and nowhere

it’s more
of a gathering
than a town

and if there’s
beer aplenty
so much the better –

back-slapping
piss-taking
bonhomie by the breath-full –

all are good
anything is possible
everybody’s stuck here –

and then
the laughter wears thin
the beer goes warm –

and you realize
there is no more
this is it –

the whole circus
the whole
excuse for a miracle –

men with busted heads
women with weary eyes
kids with blank expressions –

something better
never comes
just sleep –

the long rollcall
of night to which
nobody answers

John Grey is an Australian poet, US resident, recently published in Shift, River And South and Flights. Latest books, Bittersweet, Subject Matters and Between Two Fires are available through Amazon. Work upcoming in Levitate, Writer’s Block and Trampoline.