Contributor: David Macpherson

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Walking in, the bar is packed
Filled with hangers-on from a Sunday afternoon
Baby shower. People settling tabs, talking about
The Future, and those who will be there
When it finally arrives. Which is how talk is in these things.
But soon the place begins to lighten, to empty.
Several of these people are going to a
Memorial Ceremony for a young woman,
and former bar patron, who passed away too soon,
As is the way for this. I order a drink
And watch this turnstile of obligation.
The people attempt to remove their smiles
Replacing them with a more appropriate expression.
The beer is cold and sweet.
Which is the way for this as well.


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