they say in seattle

you’ve just got to keep goin

they say in seattle

work hard sleep hard

somehow be healthy about it

but somehow buried in the cabinets

all the wine bottles drunk alone

and then between the lines

dad’s rules you broke all of

but it’s too late to go to st. demetrios’s

and say sorry for your sins

i worship instead at the feet of music

it’s touch and go but mostly touch

and here in san francisco they say

you’ve got to experience as much as possible

drink the wine all the way down

until there’s no life left at all

to squander to the dregs — but can you

squander something that follows you

and blows your soul out

like bubbles in the honey

that drips down over your toast

and yiayia’s mountain tea

where do you keep goin to?

when you get that old?

do they say the same thing everywhere?

or just in the next city?