By Jean Paul Mazlymian
Empty glass bottles
And cans
Scattered across the grass
And the grey folding tables
Lights strung above
Shining many colours
And a tarp
to stop the rain
He held the bottle
as tightly as he could.
It rose and fell,
Emptier
then it had been before.
He shuddered
from the bitterness
and knelt by the wall.
He watched
People stumbling
Aimlessly wandering
The blonde with a cigarette
Smiling and clutching
A bottle
In her right hand
People danced together
And listened
to the
loud
music
He saw
Two people walk
into a room together
while
others went into their cars
and in the woods
He went into
The woods too
Away from the crowd
Past the birches
And the oaks
He found a place
To rest
The ground
beneath him
was cold
and harsh.
The light crept away.
The stars
drowned out
by the silhouettes
of swaying trees.
Copyright© 2020 by Jean Paul Mazlymian
Undivided Magazine 