In the Back of the Olive Pit

I am
the first person
singular
who shook down
the queen
of dead magic.
Inside my medicine
cabinet lives
a little bottle of pills
where I put my heart.
That's where it stays
when I'm on the clock.
I took
the case
for twenty-four hours
a day
plus
expenses.
"Follow the shadow
of the sun
to the boiler-room
bed.
Get names,
faces,
numbers
and
get something
to remember you by."
Now I'm over here
catching a bad one
in the back of
an olive pit dive.
"Why don't you
ever come in here
with a nice girl?
Loners are bad for
business."
Not as bad for business
as your menu is,
grandma.
Well,
after this beer
and oily octopus,
I'm going to sit
here
and think about
what it would be like
to eat in this dump
with a nice girl.
Yup.
I think I'll put my heart
back in my throat,
dust off my squint and smile,
go out
and
find her.
Then,
I'm gonna bring her
right back
in here
babushka.
Just to piss you off.
"Oh, that mouth of yours.
That's why we put
you in the back."
I thought
it was so you could have me
all to your ample self.