work night, meetings end at the bar after too many bourbons, I squeeze beside the piano player, play any key he’s not already using, cacophony contrived from Shostakovich I’m too drunk to reckon anyone else I free associate, temper my fugue I thunder, I soar, & pay the price when hours later toxins flay me morning after, all I want is to be a someone else not too drunk to stand alongside me, see & hear my every jarring note, record me overcharged with unrepentant glory