Toe Tag

Atmospheres of smoke and whiskey
Mingling with sour sweat
Followed him
The way shadows dog drunks
Into alleyways.

Every word was a sneer.
Every thought evaporated before it finished.

He teetered before me

Bracing against a brick wall
Inventing threats to hurl
Like pipe bombs.

Others may lean away

But I did not
And that confused him
So he amped up.

I did not flinch

And that made him more angry
Which was something like
Making midnight darker.

His spittle salted my beard.

I grabbed the hem of his shirt
And wiped my face
Planning a hot shower
A half hour later.

He asked me twice if I knew his name.

I told him I did not
But I could get it off his toe tag.

That’s when he said I was too stupid to kill
And too smart to hurt.

So I bought him his next bottle

And let it do the job for me.

So much for being too stupid to kill.