works by william pham, 2005-present

index | poetry | fiction

If->Then

Cheers she said and
hey how's it going
by the way your set was amazing
you're so amazingly talented
what are you drinking
oh what a coincidence
hey I'm buying
sorry too late and
by the way it's only water,

instead of the vodka tonics that we
were drinking in tandem,
drink then drink,
if drink then drink,
drink:drink::drive:increase
the risk of an accident by a thousand times
per percentage point of blood alcohol content
that was not cool
I do not appreciate that
I do not appreciate you taking my life
for granted I do not appreciate you:

It smelled like cigarette smoke because that's
the only thing that was holding the room
together at all for me through the smoke
and if only it was the only thing
at all.  If only it was the only
thing.  And it was the only thing at all.

copyright (c) 2007 by william pham