There's A Place I Know

 

 “Reminds me of my safari in Africa. Somebody forgot the          corkscrew and for several days we had to live on nothing but food and water."- W.C. Fields

Around the next corner is a dark green door

a dark green door with a diamond-paned window

a diamond-paned window with opaque yellow glass

the yellow glass glows from dim dusty lights

those lights cast long shadows on the tables and bar

on the mahogany bar trays of olives and onions 

olives and onions and wedges of fruit 

wedges of fruit and beyond them a mirror

an old barroom mirror and shelves filled with bottles

shelves filled with bottles colored like gemstones

colored like gemstones or clear as pure water

clear as pure water, but vodka and gin

vodka and gin, tequila and whiskey

tequila, whiskey, and rum in the glasses 

raised by the drinkers through the bright afternoon

through the bright afternoon their eyes glaze like glass

the opaque yellow glass in the diamond-paned window

the diamond-paned window in that dark green door

that dark green door that has opened for them,

is open for them, but closed for me.

I've sworn it, sweet Jesus, closed for me.