Gates That Trap

 

 

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Alcohol beyond midnight

Whiskey, whiskey, whiskey—valium

Whatever turns the sleep trick

Immediately thereafter:

Alarm sound at 5am

Dizzy throwing on clothes in the dark

One last look:

Warm woman under warm blankets

Silently turning the deadbolt

Out the door and into November

Apartment complex parking lot the size of Russia

Wandering through pitch black

A million cars parked asleep

The biggest complex imaginable

One gate, two gate, three gate

Gates designed for vehicles

Walkers were not taken into consideration

All the gates in the world remain shut for those

On foot

Stuck on the inside

A black widow trap

Weak legs don’t want to work right

Nobody in the entire complex is awake at

5am

Wandering in rat circles

Back to gate number one

Black iron bars seven feet high

Cold as ice

Looking left

Looking right

Finally clawing up the gate

Like a would be burglar

He was even wearing black

Up, over and down—crash!

Free

Arms shaking

New mission: find the car

More dizzy walking in the dark

Orange street lights buzzing

Ten minutes or an hour later

Car, so very glad to see you

Dizzy eyeballs rolling asleep at 45 mph

Sleep driving all the way back home

Shower, fresh clothes

Off to work where he now sits

Eyelids at half mast

Writing events of the early morning

Wondering if the warm woman

Under the warm blankets

Really exists

Wondering if he left something at her apartment

Wondering about black iron bars

And gates that trap