Friday, June 2, 2023


SAEED JONES
"Alive at the End of the World"
____________________

The End of the World was a nightclub. 
 Drag queens with machetes and rhinestoned

machine guns guarded the red and impassable door
 on Friday nights. Just a look at the crowd,

all dressed up and swaying outside, made people
 want to yell the truth about themselves to anyone

who’d listen, but no one heard. The End of the World
 was loud. The End of the World leaked music

like radiation, and we loved the neon echo, even
 though it taunted us or maybe because it taunted us:

kids leaning out of windows hours after bedtime,
 cabdrivers debating fares at the curb just for an excuse

to linger, pastors who’d pause at the corner and vow
 that if they ever got inside, they’d burn it all down.


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