known by John Grochalski

she grabs my arm and says

i’m sorry but i don’t think

i know you

i put down my beer

and tell her

it’s fine

millions of people don’t know me

and she lets go

to sit back down with her old man

maybe her father

he looks eighty

she looks sixty

he has a beer in front of him

and she has a rum and coke

they were drunk when they

walked in this joint

can’t we get any music

in here? she says

can’t i smoke in here?

come on

come on

she keeps telling her old man

it’s fine

don’t worry

but he won’t touch his beer

just watches the floor

as she fiddles with her newport

digging through her purse

with the other hand

to find a light

anyone got a light?

she asks

but no one answers

they just watch jeopardy

or the yankees game

well, can you call us a cab?

she asks the bartender

and he dials the phone

quicker than i’ve ever seen him move

for anything

then says they’ll be here in minutes, darling

before going to the other end of the bar

to look for the cab

outside the neon-soaked window

come on

come on

she prods the old man

at which point he looks up

from the floor with sad, baggy

old man eyes

eyes tired of looking at the world

and grabs the sweaty bottle

just as she finds a light

and stumbles off the stool

to go outside

and have a quick smoke

in the summer rain

smiling my way

one more person out of millions

who knows me now

John Grochalski is the author of The Noose Doesn't Get Any Looser After You Punch Out. His chapbook, Glass City, is forthcoming from Low Ghost Press. Grochalski currently lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Photo by Adam Lawrence.
Street art by Paul Richard.

This track comes from Broken Social Scene's most recent release Forgiveness Rock Record which was released on back on May 4th.