Teatime Blues
︎︎︎ Adrian Frey
︎ Apr 1, 2026
A lone man with a green martini
Lights up a dark honky-tonk.
A small blonde group passes by outside,
One who missed a phone call,
The other crazy about their sister’s request
For a fully paid trip to Nashvegas
Before marriage.
A trip to disneylands
Makes us all presumptuous.
I settle into my seat
Ignoring conversation.
To twist around my wallet
In my jacket pocket.
The carbon of a gunman
A coward after all.
I wait for an email
Or some tapping from the table across from me,
An invitation to tea.
My handler told me
A passphrase and an opportunity to
Escape the doldrums of the clock.
Some time in Richmond
To settle down by the shadow of an empty monument stand
That once housed Lee
And run some flowers for the Chinese.
Lights up a dark honky-tonk.
A small blonde group passes by outside,
One who missed a phone call,
The other crazy about their sister’s request
For a fully paid trip to Nashvegas
Before marriage.
A trip to disneylands
Makes us all presumptuous.
I settle into my seat
Ignoring conversation.
To twist around my wallet
In my jacket pocket.
The carbon of a gunman
A coward after all.
I wait for an email
Or some tapping from the table across from me,
An invitation to tea.
My handler told me
A passphrase and an opportunity to
Escape the doldrums of the clock.
Some time in Richmond
To settle down by the shadow of an empty monument stand
That once housed Lee
And run some flowers for the Chinese.
Adrian Frey is a poet from Upstate New York.