This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Oct. 17, 2011 - With playoff celebrations, Octoberfest, and the Blues opener all hazy memories, here's a poem that makes ending up in the drunk tank seem fun -- or at least colorful.
Travis Mossotti
Getting Arrested
I know I'm not the only drunk in the tank,
logging lonely hours on a gurney bunk,
whiskering off a few fingers of scotch--
there goes a poor bastard heaving out
a bluesy riff of vomit, praying to his virgin
mother and all her Tupperware friends.
Sure,
the cops got patience and sobriety,
but I've got a flounce in my pocket, a toenail
chandelier, a diamond man in Calcutta,
an appetite for all things burritoesque.
I can occupy the infinity between now
and bail time with ease. Orange, my favorite
way to color a hillside, is also somewhat
complimentary to my personality--
nothing
rhymes with either of us. Chain me down,
throw the dogs at me and unleash the book.
Give my bread to the guy down the hall.
We've got all night to start choosing sides.
Travis Mossotti was awarded the 2011 May Swenson Poetry Award by contest judge Garrison Keillor for his first collection of poems, "About the Dead" (2011, USU Press), and his work has appeared in such places as the Antioch Review, Manchester Review, The Writer's Almanac, Poetry Ireland, Subtropics, Vallum and many others. He lives in St. Louis with his wife Regina and their daughter Cora.
Richard Newman, River Styx editor for 15 years, is the author of two full-length poetry collections, "Borrowed Towns" and "Domestic Fugues." He also co-directs the River Styx at Duff's reading series.