IN THE AFTERMATH OF A TEQUILA BINGE by J. Archer Avary

On waking:
Dry mouth in hot airless bedroom
Bath towel as improvised blackout curtain
Frog-faced reflection in full-length mirror

    First impressions:
Empty tequila bottles on cluttered countertop
Entire wedge of brie reported missing
Beer cans and half-burnt logs in backyard

    Action items:
Resuscitate the self with coffee and sausages
Smoke-saturated bathrobe to be aired on line
Hatchet needed to chop big logs into small pieces

    Dear diary:
‘Never again’ pledges made (said that before)
Confusion - mouth still dry but farts are wet
When did we become pyromaniacs?

J. Archer Avary is a former television journalist, marine conservationist, and champion lionfish hunter. His work has appeared in Bright Flash Literary Review and Guernsey Poets. He was born in Albuquerque, NM and lived in several US cities including Omaha (NE), Milwaukee (WI), Asheville (NC) and Atlanta (GA) before moving to Grand Cayman in 2014. He currently resides in Guernsey with his wife where he is a furloughed aviation worker.