By Brady Rhoades
drinking at a bar in Long Beach
six weeks after
the company
laid off
35
there's one
hey
hey
i buy him a rum &coke
any prospects?
looks
calls
makes his pitch
52
two decades on the job
200 sick days
unused
heard anything? could you put a word in?
no & yes
one drink only
& he'd like to get the tip please
more perplexed than pissed off
40 more days & he loses
the house
RETURN