happy hour

Woman behind the counter tells me
it's happy hour at the Dairy Queen
in Chillicothe, Texas, but she

doesn't look happy. I imagine her
colleague with the mop would rather
be anywhere but here.

I take my coffee black, wonder why
the place is not full of lonely
people leaning on bars drowning

their sorrows in Blizzards, downing
one soft drink after another until
pain goes with memories and consciousness

slips away to wait for morning when it will
come again to hammer at the marshmallow wall
of a hangover. But there's nobody

here, nobody but me and two
unhappy women working happy
hour in a place with no spirits,

in Chillicothe Texas, in
the Dairy Queen.
© Steven Schroeder

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