Have you ever been caught in a barroom conversation that leaves you scratching your head? Perhaps it’s not limited to a barroom, I’ve had many such conversations in a variety of locations coffee shops, bus stops, waiting rooms and so forth, in fact, the potential for such a conversation to take place is vast and I believe they are possible in any location but they do appear more common whenever you are captive for any period of time and escape seems futile. Smokers I believe endure this frequently and such conversation have led to many prematurely discarded cigarettes. Tall Tales is a poem I wrote inspired by such conversations.
TALL TALES
A man wearing a suit and a tie
Speaking in such detail
Anyone was sure to believe his lies
Always wins and never seems to fail
Nobody was asking him why
He ordered another pale ale
He’s set to stay a while
Talking to anyone willing to listen to his tall tales
I was waiting for time to pass by
Drinking another cocktail
With a heavy pour of Sazerac straight rye
But the customers bailed
And I must have caught his eye
Said he graduated from Yale
With a Phd in Poli-Sci
I was like a dog chasing his tail
Not achieving much listening to this guy
It felt like blackmail
As my next drink he did buy
His words floated like a contrail
Just hanging in the sky
Told me he found the Holy Grail
When he rode the Sante Fe Trail
On the back of a majestic Clydesdale
Said it only took him a few days
Then he made his way east
Leaving behind his magnificent beast
He went on to set sail
But his boat capsized
And he was swallowed whole by a whale
Sure he would die
He still found a way to survive
And made it out of the belly alive
He told me
He tamed a lion in Nairobi
Became a well- respected Yogi
And wandered for months in the Gobi
His lies were making me tired and sick
I don’t know about Moby
But he certainly seemed like a dick
Yet I kept listening because
He wanted me to believe
He was the man he wanted to be
And not the man who he was
Who was I to turn and be gone
After all is said and done
I don’t know if I’m the man I want to be
Or just the man I’ve become
