"Losing At Pool"  Parental Advisory genre: Poetry
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	Improvised piano along with spoken word poetry from "A Cacophony of Near-Fatal Mistakes." A shooter's worst nightmare come true; lose the girl because the girl is there.
	CD: A Cacophony of Near-Fatal Mistakes   Label: TWHI Credits: Words and Music by Seth Flynn Barkan
	Lyrics LOSING AT POOL: Drunk, I shout “I only excel at failure!” Black cue goes down against Hard, green covered slate With a crack, putting a bullwhip Into the chorus of East Saint Louis Toodle Loo Playing on the juke box. I am beguiled. My opponent is a living dream A distraction, constant, Like a kid tugging at your shirt cuff While you try to line up An impossible kiss combo Everything is falling apart. Her hair done up, With huge glasses, stylish, Pierced eyebrows, chatty laugh, And body built for burlesque, I know there is no way I can win. Except for my coat of grime and the light whiff of booze Its like I’m not even there. The ducks don’t drop, just go quack. The cuts and combos, the banks and spot shots All go bad, every click of the cue yields a scratch. Soon, I am howling And all is lost. She coos to comfort me, out of polite interest I, baleful, bashful, utterly broken; Sip my drink, stew and stare, impossible odds, Lost in darkness, furious fuck up Fail to hear. Nothing registers. I find a friend passing by and ask, like A moron, if I know anything about pool; Yeah, he says. See! I shout, not even exultant. Unable to summon anything else Not enough pride left to fill a shot glass, I make a hasty run for the door Cue in case, mark of shame, Already waiting to dream about the blonde In the big glasses next to the green felt. copyright 2002 by Seth Barkan

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