SAKE NIGHTS by Rob Azevedo

stumbling out of an empty saloon
my brain soaked with sake
with fingers covered in red sauce
the watch on my wrist reads two a.m.
but i'm sure it's much later than that
because i'm panicked
my friends have fled
my woman has disappeared
my teeth ache with homesickness
my stomach churns with acid
and the cracks in my knuckles now bleed
with loss
and all i want
is to be poured into a taxi
and
taken home
but i have no home
i have no woman
no friends
no cash
just an empty saucer
half filled with sake
and a brutal sunrise to catch.

Rob Azevedo, from Manchester, NH, is a writer and radio host with a new booked called "Notes From The Last Breath Farm: A Music Junkies Quest To Be Heard."