It's just one of those nights
you can't help but
stare at the dust covered bottles of liquor
given to me by friends
years ago
some as
birthday presents or
christmas gifts
some just because I did them a favor
or I was there to lend an ear
other times perhaps leftover
from a party
but oddest of all is that
I haven't touched them
they sit on my liquor shelf
some as old as 15 years
just sitting there aging
these brown and yellow and clear bottles
have seen me conquer mountains
and sometimes spiral and dive into the void
they've witnessed the people in my life
come and go
the arguments and laughter
the love and hurt
never asking questions or
wagging the finger at me
they’ve just rested and watched
all the moments that have passed
as well as the ones yet to come
and the day the curtains call for me
they'll be packed or given away
by relatives or the landlord
and they'll wonder why I never opened them
why I never put them to use
and I won't be there to answer and say
they were collecting the dust
while I was collecting years.
Dennis Montano is a poet from Maywood, a working-class suburb of Los Angeles, where the streets, neighborhood bars, and everyday struggles of ordinary people provide endless material for his writing. His poetry finds beauty in unlikely places, humor in misfortune, and meaning in the moments most people overlook. He is the author of The War Is Long, his debut poetry collection. Montano writes without pretense, giving a voice to the forgotten, the brokenhearted, and those simply trying to make it through another day.
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