Afternoon at the Half-way Bar

At the Half-Way Bar
on my second beer
listening to the juke box
through my second ear,
Chatting with the bar-keep
talking politics
in strolls a cowgirl
‘bout a Number Six,

On the scale of 1 to 10
it’s only afternoon
sets her ass on a stool
juke box plays a tune,
Love, loss, happenstance
cowgirl taps her boot
I look at her again
actually rather cute,

Then she moves over
six inches to my right
bartender asks her:
you working tonight?
Tells me her life story
picks the label off her beer
a couple inches closer
I watch her in the mirror,

Order two more beers
her second, and my third
bartender tells a joke
she gives him the bird,
Bar-keep winks his eye
smiles a crooked smile
hands me a key
I rather like his style,

We collect our beers
she knows the way
up the stairs on the right
as if just another day,
Door clicks behind us
I kiss her on the lips
let my hands explore
then hold her cowgirl hips,

She tastes a bit like honey
smells a bit like sage
in my sorted history
one more turning page,
Snaps on her cowgirl shirt
click as they break free
her rodeo buckle
a work of art to see,

Wiggles free of her jeans
and her underwear
stands there very naked
hard not to stare,
She watches as I join her
in a state of casual bliss
small breasts press against me
as once again we kiss,

Do the sex thing several times
each a different position
really quite mechanical
like agents on a mission,
Finish our warm beer
sit there on the bed
wondering about
the lives we’ve both led,

I give her some money
she answers with a grin
thanks me for the business
says: let’s do this again!
Watch as she dresses
then she watches me
on the way out, whistling
give the bar-keep the key,