Photo by Ellery Sterling
Liquor Store Girl
William Teets
On Avalon Boulevard,
land-locked commodores pitch nickels and dimes
in the back alley of Arthur’s discount liquor store
Self-proclaimed gods of a bowery,
they argue about whose turn it is,
not aware that turn turned long ago
She clerks like the Queen of Sheba
and I so want to see her explode in rainbow colors,
keep me from the dry-rot caravan to Potter’s field
But I’m another of another of another phony
trying to hide my long Midas donkey ears
beneath a golden turban I don’t even own
Yet, she’s too innocent to recognize my sin,
says thank you and smiles
and holds eye contact just long enough
I shout my love for her into a sewer hole,
hope the dirty streets don’t reveal
my true wind-blown lust
William Teets
On Avalon Boulevard,
land-locked commodores pitch nickels and dimes
in the back alley of Arthur’s discount liquor store
Self-proclaimed gods of a bowery,
they argue about whose turn it is,
not aware that turn turned long ago
She clerks like the Queen of Sheba
and I so want to see her explode in rainbow colors,
keep me from the dry-rot caravan to Potter’s field
But I’m another of another of another phony
trying to hide my long Midas donkey ears
beneath a golden turban I don’t even own
Yet, she’s too innocent to recognize my sin,
says thank you and smiles
and holds eye contact just long enough
I shout my love for her into a sewer hole,
hope the dirty streets don’t reveal
my true wind-blown lust