Love Poem: Somebody Else
Stephen Kilmer Avatar
Written by: Stephen Kilmer

Somebody Else

A lush
A hot tomato
Full of bourbon
Holding up a bar stool
Cigarette between her fingers
Manicured nails meant to kill
And I’m on a bender
And hell bent
Smoky crushed velvet
James Bond would be so proud
A jazz quartet is swinging 
To a heroin crowd
Sunglasses in the night
The brother is so cool
A nicotine queen
Is filing in between
Bartender named Lloyd
Says my money’s no good 
Drinks are on the house
They know I’ll pay in cocaine
When we slide on out the back
“What was that?” she says
“A double Jack straight up?”
No mixers for me
I’m drinking for the buzz
It takes a lot of booze to kill 
The memories of you 
And pretend I’m someone else.