Another Day in Paradise By Jeff Weddle

Old Jimmy’s hands on the bar 

and half the pitcher gone. 

The radio quit working some time back, 

but there’s television now 

and it sometimes comes in fine. 

Ugly Mary does her little dance 

for loose change 

and the regulars laugh 

as they pelt her with quarters.

That half-a-pitcher gets warmer

as old Jimmy studies his knuckles. 

Ugly Mary squats to pick up the coins, 

careful to get them all,

then sits down beside him 

and counts her money.

Somebody says they think 

it’s snowing outside. 

Jimmy pours Mary a glass 

and himself one too. 

He enjoyed her dance

and he tells her.

She smiles a broken smile.

They are hogtied, 

bone to bone, 

by love.

 

Jeff Weddle is the Alabama Beat Poet Laureate (2024-2026). His latest books are High on Rose (Keeping the Flame Alive Press, 2026), The Things We Do to Protect Our Own (Meat for Tea Press, 2025), and Letter to Xhevdet Bajraj (2025). He opposes fascism in all forms and grieves that such opposition has become dangerous in America.