Nickelodeon

There are no lights along the low road Not candlesticks Or lanterns but there's laughter and the talking of talk shows Each beat in the banter Evades the host Like any American Choking on their boast That insidious sentence: "I think I'll love you a long time or at least more than most". Bottle opener Spinning in dazzling little circles around his finger The horseshoe twirls like a drunkard around the post Dad pleads "Take it easy kid You've only got the one liver and I can't spare my nickels for your eyelids" Like all my old friends Resigned to the west Troubling the turnstiles or what is otherwise paradise. Nibbling at cold fries from the fridge For several breakfasts If I wanted you gone, it was only out of debt And the faces you made Too soon to forget Even for the things I cannot carry, I'll work myself to death.