One More Night, One More Beer
Grant, a server I worked with a decade ago
once said to me the restaurant business
is the business of goodbye.
We begin our goodbyes on our first
day of every new job,
as soon as we meet.
Our bonds are sailors’ knots—
tight as hell, but unravel easy.
We all make promises to one another
when the tears flow. Coffee, drinks.
Sometimes we stay in touch,
but even then, the text messages
drip like an ice dam.
Last I heard, Grant moved back
to Indiana with his wife & kids.
He’s from there.
We never did have that one more beer.
Goodbye.
Richard Gegick is from Trafford, PA. He’s worked in the hospitality industry for 20 years, and his poems and stories have appeared in magazines such as The Chiron Review, 86 Logic, Gulf Stream, and Edison Literary Review. His 2019 poetry collection, Greasy Handshakes, was published by WPA Press.
