The bartender is skeptical;
less than most of his peers
more transparent about it
than many fellow mixologist
hesitant in his urge to believe
the guy on the stool adjacent
to mine doesn’t understand
the resistance, thus taking the
credibility hit when he can
least afford one, then takes it
personally, with resignation;
defeated in his silent defiance
As a bystander with no vested
interest but the mental-wager
I, too, doubt the man’s sincerity
believable as it may be – or not.
The bartender, I think, makes a
salient point; there is no use in
arguing with a lovesick drunk,
nothing is gained from making
oblique threats of expulsion
should anything get out of hand
we all agree on one absolute; if
he had said anything at all to her,
we would all know for certain.
– Mark Lucker
Ponderable polemics, poetic 