Burns Beer and Wine
They owned Burns Beer and Wine in Inman Square
had an old hippie guy living in the basement
forget his name who took care of plants and
said he preferred them to people
on the outside wall was a tall mural with the dark
outline of an Arabic notable wearing a fez
like an upside down flower pot signaling
nothing specific while suggesting an alien type
who seems friendly but you’d best stay alert
there were other buddies whose names
I’ve blanked on and even that mural faded
later painted over to blandness but
in those days the guys were dealing
pot in the back room with quiet concern
about quality trying to be careful who to
trust next time since that suitcase disappeared
at the airport no one’s sure what happened
but somehow vanished and was never found.
- © Nina Rubinstein Alonso 2023
Nina Rubinstein Alonso’s work appeared in The New Yorker, Wilderness House Literary Review, Sumac, New Boston Review, Writing in a Woman’s Voice, etc. Her book This Body was published by David Godine Press, her chapbook Riot Wake by Cervena Barva Press, and her story collection Distractions En Route is upcoming from Ibbetson Street.
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