Dave Hughes: BC

Well lift a glass young fella,
because tonight we are the kings of Belmont Avenue.
Bottle blue bloods,
and ethanol brothers
Who can be sure,
how many of our muttered secrets we washed away
in Behans whiskey streams.
But this second, this glimpse
This is how I would remember you,
head back,
an inexplicable need for a trim
eyes squeezed so tight
your crows feet leap from your ruddy skin
laughing, not at a joke
but because you are uncomfortable
and I have paid you a compliment.