Before he finishes his beer

			My friend tells me:
			“There’s a place you have to go—
			Hathaway, Montana…

			Before I ask, he tells me:
			“Story has it a nun ran away
			from the convent

			& stopped there for gas…”
			He takes a long sip from his bottle
			& looks at me to see if I’m listening.		

			“She drank with the owner,
			the bartender. They drank all day,
	       & by the time night arrived,

			she made him an offer 
			on his place,
			& he took her up on it…”

			My friend looks at me,
			non verbally asking me
			if I’m going to ask about her 

			offer.
			I don’t.
			He chugs his beer.

			“Her name is Star.
			How about that name
			for a nun?”

			I don’t answer his question,
			but I’m wondering about the name 
			of her bar.

			He looks around the bar we’re in:
			“Do you know how to tell a Baptist
			from a Catholic in a bar?

	       I shake my head.
			“The Catholic will speak to you.”