One Shot at a Time By Rick Christiansen

I notice the cars parked askew as I arrive.

Indication of a liquor run, not the first of the day.

They buy their booze one shot at a time.

Tiny airline bottles lined up at the Bodega.

They say they are not alcoholics.

They say—just one more.

The eight year old has eighty year old eyes.

He is aging exponentially, one shot at a time.

I teeter on the tight rope.

Balancing love against enablement.

We play a sloppy game of Jenga.

Another shot—to steady the hands.

I see in the eight year old’s eyes,

those towers will fall.

I imagine him emerging from the wreckage.

Brushing off the betrayal and disappointment.

One shot at a time.

Rick Christiansen is a former corporate executive, stand-up comedian, actor and director. His work is published or forthcoming in MacQueen’s Quinterly, Oddball Magazine, Muddy River Poetry Review, Stone Poetry Journal, The Raven’s Perch, The Rye Whiskey Review, As It Ought to Be Magazine, WINK Magazine and other journals, magazines and anthologies. He recently released “The Dead Pets Poetry Anthology” that he co-edited with Damian Ward Hey.  He teaches poetry form workshops.  He is the co-host of SpoFest and a member of The St. Louis Writers Guild.  He lives in Missouri near his eight grandchildren.