it is cold.
but I will keep you warm.
For many of us,
when we talk about bars
we’re talking about our fathers
or mothers.
That’s just a fact.
Beneath the polished worktop
of our memories,
beneath the well-oiled stories
and the grain of the wood,
you’ll find the face of a man or a woman
you scarcely knew,
and you can picture him or her
there in the bars where he or she
sought his or her freedom.