Though morning hovers with gorgeous
gray clouds, it is under thirty degrees
in Pittsburgh. The neighbors are shouting,

which fills me with an insatiable need
to party– though I know I would be
miserable in afternoon haze, drunken

lumbering through the cold rest of day.
I am awaiting a visit from my friends,
Wayne and Jess– I have been drinking

less, but I know– after the parade– we will
go for green beers at a bar, people dressed
in green around us, shouting, as we down

our glasses with a little shame, as we
pour the wealthy a little more green.

(originally published in Erothanatos, Summer 2021)