Well hello, there. I ain't seen you before,
and I come in here nearly every night.
Can I get you something? Yeah? Barkeep, two more
on mine. Hey there, let me give you a light.
It's good on you. I like a girl who smokes--
woman, sorry. Just something in the way
the light plays on the whorls...Hm? I guess jokes,
instead of this, would be the better play.
Truth is, it's been a while since I got up
the nerve to come and make a play like this.
My wife Anne died three years ago. Cancer,
it was. God damn, I feel just like a pup
findin' his tail. What's that? Your phone? Don't answer--
I'm lonely, and I thought maybe...wait! Miss?
1 comment:
The sonnet as dramatic monologue. Tough to pull off, but very well done. Sonnets are so brief, narrative is hard. No false steps in this one though. I really like the surprises in the story, the way the guy turns out not to be a jerk on the make with a ready line, but a lonely fellow hoping to connect--and that very trait, which is honest, being the one which scares the woman away. Nicely satirical, but about the scene, not about the narrator. Takes a deal of skill to make it clear what the other person is doing without giving them any action or words.
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