Never Any Peace

you take the seat anyway, hoping to be caught. hoping to catch someone else as gullible. you ask yourself if it's worth it to wait until it wears off. drink & inspiration never leave you any peace. you ask yourself if it's worth it- chasing shadows into gutters, following well-worn trails to barroom bathrooms, flushing lines that were never written. you wonder if you'll ever get anywhere asking if anything is ever worth anything. had you caught the chair as it was full, had you caught the gutter's shadow, had you found the few flushed lines, you'd still be nothing more than saddlemarks on some caged beast. you smoke a cigarette outside, spitting in the gutter. if the muse wants anything of you, you decide she can come find you. back inside, the jukebox just clicks for a few seconds & a bottle lands on your table & the waitress, jerking her thumb just loud enough over the next song says, "this here's from that brunette at the bar."