Today is birthday twenty-one
And I am sitting
At the college Bar
It’s in the JCR,
Which is mostly wooden and smells
Somewhat of the patriarchy
Perhaps it’s just the fireplace
The whisky
And the leather seats
I’m older than most of my friends,
But only by a year.
Except for Dave, who’s young.
So no one else
Has really hit
This milestone age
It’s a Thursday night
So we’re probably planning
On going to Puggs
First, though, we’re pre-drinking
In the Buttery.
Freddie is in charge
Tonight, however,
Henry is pouring drinks;
There’s Bundy on his breath
Someone by the mantlepiece
Laughs at another’s joke:
I didn’t hear the dialogue
Elsewhere in the cloisters
Smokers loiter
In the outside light
While a half-drunk goon bag does a lay-back
Lying on the coffee table
Under the unused TV
Two bar stools remain,
The others’ whereabouts are a mystery,
I sit on one
I’m not in the mood tonight
For a big one, though, everyone else
Seems adamant it’s almost time to leave
I’d rather go to bed,
Reflect and watch a new TV show,
Glee
I smile amicably
At someone handing me a pot
Then sigh and skull it down
The mob masses
Around the large round table
Like Arthurian Knights
To play a round of ‘Fuck Yeah’
We choose our words
With juvenile delight
The thumping drones
Throughout the room
Which is finally being used
A cry, a shriek
A new round begins -
Panoramic consume!
Communication suggests
The pub-line is getting long,
Plus, drinks specials run out soon
Abruptly it’s time to go
So hasty last minute texts are sent:
‘meeting on the Bul’
The others leave the bar
But I remain, I have study to do,
After all, this is second year.
In the empty room
I can hear laughter
Echo from outside
I retire hopeful
Of the future, After all
I am now twenty-one
.
Source:
http://intherhizome.wordpress.com/2013/04/30/twenty-one/