The times that I couldn’t stomach being alone
Subterranean bar rooms felt most like home
Kept them as clean as barracks rooms too
Regulars claiming their own stools as tombs
Everyone but me has fucked everyone, but
I fought about 50% of the fools they fucked
Looking for love around a dumpster fire
Sharing smoke behind locked doors with liars
So here’s to the lifers and cheers to the fighters
And here’s to the old timers and stolen bic lighters
Blessed are the bar rooms that sit below the sidewalks
Where time spent is never considered time lost
Keith Walter Dow is a former Army MP and bouncer and the author of Karmic Purgatory from which this selection was taken. He is the co-founder of Dead Reckoning Collective. You can follow him on IG here.