DRINKING AT THE RIVIERA LOUNGE by MICHAEL MINASSIAN

Back in my college days

my friends and I

hung out at the Riviera

Lounge on Main Street

drinking beers and gawking 

at the go-go girls

in tight bikinis with sparkles

and thigh high white boots.

Sitting between

tough guys, greasers,

and wannabes

who left us pretty

much alone

after one hard look 

from the bartender,

my friend’s Uncle Vinny, 

who owned the bar

and the small

restaurant next door.

We liked the girls and beer 

so much we brought 

our other friends;

funny how none 

of them ever came

back more than once…

We didn’t understand

until the night

Vinny put some drunk’s

head through the glass

door out front

then told us to get out

before the cops got there

Better to cruise out

to Route 4, 

find a quiet spot,

some pool tables,

cold beer, 

and no blood

on the floor.

We missed the girls,

though, dancing behind

the oval shaped bar

and the cold jolt

of fear you felt

every time you

walked in the door.

MICHAEL MINASSIAN is a Contributing Editor for Verse-Virtual. His short stories and poems have appeared in such journals as Comstock Review, Evening Street Review, Main Street Rag and Poet Lore. His chapbooks include poetry: The Arboriculturist (2010); Chuncheon Journal (2019); and photography: Around the Bend (2017). His poetry collection Time is Not a River was released in 2020.