Loyola Farewell

Off the water

a man shivers while 

his younger friend stares at the blue veins mapping his otherwise pale skin

like when drinking drunk across one another 

under the Budweiser neon light of just any bar will do

But wait, the seagulls have lit on the shore now 

yeah, that’s what they do here, the man says 

staring at years of what could have been

while the younger one already turns his back and walks off 

It’s the time of day someone has to get hurt

they both think in a different language

Chicago, 1991