- The Tip Well -
by John Vick

To make that tip well in the granite bar
accessible -- .....to make it beckon, call out
to the strange men ...........lonely drinking
...................only ......low call cocktails
and make it holler out and say
your service was impeccable
...................only ......a dollar will suffice,
green hemp tender,
.......the makings of a ......high night for the barkeep
.................but not
a fair measure of his skill, his camaraderie,
.......his tour de force ......the three-finger shot,
.....................the ......shared mint spirit
now and then, .......one should have remembrance
of the old dark oak predecessor, with it's inlaid
copper striping, mother- .......of pearl parquetry
and warps of decades ...........spilt brew
..................stains
of unknown origin.
................................And the succession
of happy and dour faces ........as they moved eloquently
on the other side faced ........robbery, skank-odorous
clientele, .....................and the occasional beauty
................................who flirted them out of hard-earned
..................dinero, ......and old conversancies
when erstwhile friends visit ...................and say
can I get a shot on the ........................house,
to which he will inevitably reply in the affirmative,
in exchange ....................for a whit of information
about So-and-so, Whosit ........from the other place,
or Roundabout-fella ............whom he dated years ago
who he learns has died a slow death, without family
yet loved, .....................the memorial; last week.