Cowboy Coffee

Saint Paul, 3 October 2023

For Lance's birthday

After nightfall

pretty as a pitcher

is what a cowhand

might say coaxing 

coals into flames

come first light

smoldering pitch 

permeates despair 

nightmares tap

my shoulder

discarded remnants 

of cowboy coffee

pools on the dirt

muffled voices crawl

under my skin