Shots with Beer Chasers. by Jim Bourey

Goddam there’s a lot of tragedy

in the world.

That’s what my grizzled friend

said as we drank shots with beer

chasers. Of course, he had a list:

War and terror

fires and floods

abuse and neglect

disease and suicide

hunger and homelessness

violence and bad education.

Ever helpful I added:

Democrats and Republicans

drugs and alcohol

Mickey and Minnie

innies and outies.

He didn’t laugh. He rarely laughs.

Two more shots, two more swallows.

Jim Bourey is an old poet who divides his year between the Adirondack Mountains and Dover, Delaware. His chapbook “Silence, Interrupted” was published in 2015 by the Broadkill River Press. His work has appeared in Mojave River Review, Paddock Review, Gargoyle and the Broadkill Review and other journals and anthologies. He was first runner up in the Faulkner-Wisdom Poetry Competition in 2012 and 2016. He has served as an adjudicator for the Poetry Out Loud competition in Delaware. In his North Country months, he is active with the St. Lawrence Area Poets and has taken part in Art/Poetry projects in Saranac Lake.