Chaps on Main by Karen A VandenBos

We were the revelers in the back

corner by the exit singing along

brilliantly with a changing cast

of characters.

We sat on hard wooden chairs

around tables punctuated with

pounded glasses and raised a

toast.

A toast to the chair that made it

out to the parking lot and into

the back of someone's car along

with a few mugs for the long ride

home.

We fed the hunger in our bellies

and drank to the thirst in our souls.

The beer was as full of piss as

we were.

We didn't know then that the bar

would close and too many of us

would have our own last call.

Instead we drank steadily from

the pitchers of possibility not

realizing then that our dreams

had already lost their fire.

Once upon a time, Karen A VandenBos was born on a warm July morn in Kalamazoo, MI. Her youth was nourished by books and writing. When adulthood opened the door, she was detoured to working in health care for 30+ years and obtained her PhD in Holistic Health. She tumbled into the realm of retirement landing on her feet and was reunited with her creative spark. She can now be found contributing to two online writing groups where she unleashes her imagination and trusts her pen to take her where she needs to go. Her writing has been published in The Ekphrastic Review, Lothlorien Poetry Journal, Verse-Virtual, The Rye Whiskey Review and Cold Moon Journal and some of her photographs have been published in Blue Heron Review.