Mark Arvid White

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The Fly In My Shot Glass

The fly in my shot glass
stares through translucent walls,
watching me with a hundred damn ugly eyes --
his spigot, or siphon, or sucker-stick
lapping up what's left of my seventh Schnapps
as the bartender holds the round smoking barrel
of the bottle expertly over the glass querying about a refill.
I tilt my head from my arm on the bar,
knowing just how fucking divine number eight could be,
but knowing too the fly probably couldn't leap out of there right now
to save his wretched little greasy life.
I wave the bottle away, thinking I'll have another after
the fly is done coating his hairs.
After all, it's better than drinking alone.

Mark Arvid White lives in Alaska, and has been writing poetry and stories for a number of years. He is devoted to haiku and other Japanese forms, but also loves to write in many other non-Eastern styles, including Fibonacci. His publication credits include such print and online journals as Modern Haiku, Frogpond, Candelabrum, Permafrost, Japanophile, Wild Violet, AlienSkin, and many others in the U.S. and abroad. He has received best of issue awards, appeared in numerous anthologies including A Haiku Moment, and has won various contest awards. He is the founder of the Shin Tao Haiku Retreat, a gathering place for poets online in the virtual community of Second Life.