LIKE A TITANIC DREAM (199?)

the bar had a fake front

someones idea
of
a
Mediterranean bistro 

plastic palms on a pretend street
chipped plaster, all that

buried
deep
in
the
sunless
mall

i drank there 
before
my 
shift - screwdrivers / lots of ice

and i had a vision

all the shoppers were dead - walking dead

nothing
but
an
old
memory - like watching newsreel footage
of
a
gone
age - the Titanic ballroom / dancing before drowning

i drank
i was a cipher in denim

my
role
was
observer and it chilled me inside

it was dark / nearly night
the
winter
outside
like
a
limbo void

i finished my drink / swallowed my fear
and
walked
between the bodies and their square shopping bags

sick
inside

careful not to let anyone touch me in the crowd

what 
might 
happen
if our plasma met ?

i
went
to
work - the hardest thing i ever done

i clocked in
put rum in my coffee and waited for the midnight break
to
smoke
weed
in
the
service road watching shadow thin foxes
tear
open
abandoned
brown paper fast food bags
on
the
icy sparkle
of the empty car parks black top

all
of
us
running
out the night clock
till
we'd drive to the truckers diner
for
cold
beer
with
hot breakfast

a hot breakfast and a warm dawn
i
hoped
would
take
the ghost chill from my bones

from zombie uppercut.com