Stopping at an Irish pub
for a stout.
Maybe a second or third
pending the vibe of the night.
I get in a convo w/ a drunk girl
who apparently worships
karaoke night.
Everything is copacetic.
She calls me Magnum
based on a seeming Hawaiian shirt.
But I identify my shirt
as a mad gringo—
the actual name
of the company making the shirt.
She says ”Isn’t that a white boy?”
I take off my cap
And show her my arms.
“Isn’t that what I am?”
This somehow discombobulates her.
Maybe I am not supposed
to notice my own skin.
I suddenly go from Tom Selleck
To John Wayne Gayce.
I get cursed for reasons
known only to her
and she takes off.
I’m bewildered
unsure what I done to
cause her to turn like that.
Wait til she finds out
we’re riding the same train
to get home an hour later.
Unless she’s too fucked up
to remember.