A Response to Charles Bukowski: Yes I’m Drinking Today

 

booted-up, in the makeshift office/mudroom, my old laptop

out again.

I write from my drinking chair

as I’ve done for the past seventeen years.

will see my psychiatrist,

Monday.

“yes Doc, the Xanax helps my anxiety.

but it knocks me out,

I mean it really knocks me out.”

“you’re not getting rest,

are you?

I know what you need,

maybe some Ambien.”

more meds,

that’s what has defined my life

at age thirty-nine.

even at work,

it all seems so futile.

like a throwaway plastic knife,

it’s only sharp enough to cut so deep.

janitor often knocks on the door to my classroom,

“you still here boss” he asks?

while rubbing his persistently

arthritic left wrist,

too swollen to even wear

a watch.

I tell him,

“yeah, living the dream brother.”

he gives me a noncommittal nod,

knowing the well-told lie like the crease in his neck.

so here I am

just a middle-aged joker,

an amateur writer at best trying to emulate

trying to copy because I’m too tired to create,

with my cracked-screen laptop.

something is coming

across the floor

toward

me.

wait

oh, it’s just

my can of beer

this

time.

 

by Kurt C. Schuett

 

 

 

The Bohemian Waitress

 

Accent thick,

Traditional Czech dress,

Red and black,

Brown nylons tucked into

White gym shoes.

“Hello, can I take your order?”

We say,

“Becks, apricot stone sour, Becks, Chablis.”

She says, “Okay.”

Grandma says, “Oh, I’ll take an apricot stone sour, too.”

“Better make that two,” Father jokes.

Bread basket,

Rye bread.

But Cousin Becky eats the crackers,

Plain,

A thirty-two-year-old

Drinking kiddy cocktails because of the

Wellbutrin,

And eating crackers.

Butter,

Real butter,

Not margarine,

Sitting at room temperature,

Soft.

“Beef noodle, liver dumpling, or goulash?”

Soup,

Sitting in cups

Sitting on saucers

Sitting on the circular table,

Hot.

Uncle Bill says,

“No soup, prune juice please.”

Probably because of the

High blood pressure.

Main course,

Breaded pork tenderloin,

Capon,

Lamb shank,

Or duck.

Dumplings, mashed, or rice,

Sticky-starchy,

More brown gravy,

Please.

“I’ll take the cucumber salad.”

“That will be one dollar more.”

“No problem.”

Chitter-chatter,

Chitter-chatter.

Forks and knives scraping plates

Like forks and knives scraping plates.

Dessert,

Apple strudel,

Apricot kolacky, cheese kolacky, raspberry kolacky,

Pudding or ice cream.

To go boxes,

“Sure.”

Until the next birthday,

Or the next funeral.

But the Bohemian waitress,

She’s

Always

There.

 

by Kurt C. Schuett 

 

 

Kurt Schuett is an ward-winning writer and educator. Insurgency is Kurt’s debut novel, a speculative work of fiction that encompasses elements of urban suspense, thriller, and horror, and it is set to release during the summer of 2014 through Assent Publishing. In addition, Kurt’s short work of fiction, a southern gothic ghost story titled “Calamity James,” will appear in the Belle Reve Literary Journal on Monday, October 28th, 2013.

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