Ben Alfaro: When the Red Wings Take a First Round Exit (Poetry)

I finish my beer. I shake the barkeep's dry hand.
I tear my jersey off my back. I sully a reputation
with a reneged bet. I order a new beer, pay off
the damn bet. I let the jukebox swallow another
dollar. I turn on a Bowie record. I tell a lady
she looks stunning. I am told nice try. I thank
Lidstrom with a round for strangers pooled near
the television, grieving with their own wicked songs.
I let my cell phone die. I call a cab with my hand,
waving. I wake up the next day, scrape off the night,
start my angry car. I go back to work, the engine,
a revved metal titan beneath me, growling.

Ben Alfaro is a writer, organizer, and educator from Detroit, Michigan. He is a writer-in-residence with InsideOut Literary Arts Project in Detroit. His work has appeared recently in Red Cedar review, Acentos Review, on HBO and on Michigan Public Radio. His second collection of poems on sports and masculinity, Home Court, is forthcoming on Red Beard Press.