Kelly’s Bar & Lounge—GOOD FOOD, COCKTAILS by Scott Silsbe

The last living punker
put his last buck
in the machine
in the corner and
played The Cramps,
Buzzcocks, Stooges,
and The Jam. Does
a buck play you
four songs in this
day and age?

This place is a dark bar
even in daylight hours
and I love a dark bar.
I recall one night
at Mr. Toad’s out
in Greensburg after
a show at the Palace.
Paulette was drinky
and said she is not
a fan of dark bars.
“Why not?” I said
and she said that,
as a woman, she
doesn’t always
feel safe in them.

The men’s room
here at Kelly’s
still has Irwin’s
love note to me
on the graffitied
key lime wall.
It reads—
“Uncle Piss
loves poets.”

Scott Silsbe was born in Detroit and grew up down the river from there. He now lives in Pittsburgh. His poems have appeared in numerous periodicals and have been collected in the three books: Unattended Fire (2012), The River Underneath the City (2013), and Muskrat Friday Dinner (2017).  He is also an assistant editor at Low Ghost Press.