WHO’S NEXT

by John Rocco

I was the only one drinking in the bar
in the middle of the day in the Bronx
and I talked to the bartender about her kid
and when she lived in Aiken, South Carolina.
I told her about seeing the Who at Shea Stadium.
The Police opened. I was drunk and in high school.
She told me she had been addicted to coke and heroin.
I told her I was feeling so crazy the last two years
Death Booze cashing me out, my Brain Casino
blazing in killer high rollers and deep drowning hookers.
We compared still pumping broken hearts on the bar,
our blood mixing with the beer and the bills.
No one came in the bar. She sat next to me on a stool.
I got up and played WHO’S NEXT on the digital jukebox.
She bought me another beer.


*John Rocco at MySpace:
http://www.myspace.com/292819823