Things Overheard in a Bar Down an Alley In Cincinnati, Ohio
I had the same experience
with a 16-year-old polygamist girl
in a Jeep one night.
She might have been 17.
We’d been making out
for about an hour.
No, they’re not Mormons.
And it’s snowing.
It’s all over Texas already.
So I’m running around the church
and they’re speaking in tongues.
Speaking in tongues,
shit’s fucking real!
There were no snakes and shit!
It was PTSD shit!
You do know I was raised Pentecostal?
I don’t understand.
What’s in the Kool-Aid?
Because I’m drinking it
and I’m not falling out.
I think God is just shaking his head,
because he didn’t even create
the God damn church.
He may not even be there.
-Maggie Brewer
4 thoughts on "Things Overheard in a Bar Down an Alley In Cincinnati, Ohio"
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yeah…poems all around…and that pentecosal shit all pent up like some kind of anger…and such a kick butt kind of writing
This is a great poem. The title works so well to guide.
He’s not there. Who the hell ever said he was there. More likely in the Jeep, talking in tongues. I like grabbing the poetic license for stream of consciousness in the title. Strong work.
I don’t understand.
What’s in the Kool-Aid?
Because I’m drinking it
and I’m not falling out.
Purple Jesus
Grape Kool-Aid
Moonshine
Would have gotten the speaker out of his…