Poetry by Aly Tadros

2-for-1 Special (A Pantoum) 

I walk past dim-lit bars.
The kind with neon signs and “2-for-1 Specials”
and wish I had the composure
to swing in for just one whiskey.

The kind with neon signs and 2-for-1 specials
guzzled down my twenties.
I’d swing in for “just one whiskey”
then another, and another.

I guzzled down my twenties
paying with once-in-a-lifetime hangovers,
then another, and another
East Texas blonde with a taste for Kentucky Bourbon came along.

Once-in-a-lifetime hangovers
are a great way to fuck-up-a-lifetime, it turns out.
East Texas blondes with a taste for Kentucky Bourbon come along
and keep going. You warm the bar stool.

A great way to fuck-up-a-lifetime, it turns out,
is wishing you had the composure
to go, warming the bar stool.
Walk past the dim-lit bar.