Booze

by James Babbs

I saw you
she said
buying booze
he laughed
so what
I can drink
if I want to
I’m not hurting
anybody
except yourself
she said
she was a widow
and he was
her only son
I’m almost 40
he said
you can’t tell me
what to do
she turned
away from him
but he could
hear her crying
it was
the same thing
every night
he went to
his room
opened one of
the bottles
took a long
slow drink