Our Gang By Jeff Weddle

We were a bunch of assholes 

but didn’t think so. 

We drank a lot of beer, 

dressed like bums, 

thought we knew it all. 

We didn’t know shit. 

We were casually cruel 

to the girls 

because we wanted them 

but knew they didn’t want us. 

We all wanted to be writers, 

but we were only a bunch of assholes. 

Most of us are dead now. 

I’m not quite dead, 

and have had a fine wife 

for a good long while, 

but I guess I’m still an asshole, 

still hoping to be a writer. 

Maybe I’ll do better

tomorrow. Maybe, 

but I wouldn’t bet the farm. 

Jeff Weddle is the Alabama Beat Poet Laureate (2024-2026). His latest book is Letter to Xhevdet Bajraj (Uncollected Press, 2025). His work has appeared in Albanian and Spanish translation.