the battle ground

he would wish later that he had eaten
something

before entering that smoky
bar

but that horse had already bolted
when
he sent a gallon of lager
plummeting down his
throat


charm appeared at first he was
erudition incorporated,
laughing, entertaining, the host with
the most


but with that gallon eventually
came

harsh words

unthinking
actions


as his mind became a savage battle
ground
as if the orcs had beaten the hobbits and
allowed
the darkness to conquer



his world was now a vicious place
weakness
was trampled on

beauty was
smashed


his words slashed all around
him


and he stumbled home, pleased with
himself
that he had held his corner, not thrown in the
towel
they wouldn't mess with him any
more


but his world had changed in the
morning, as he tried to face the day
grasped his coffee cup,
and smoked his first cigarette

his memory of his
victorious battle
had been replaced with a numbing feeling
,
a feeling that something had happened,
and it
hadn't been
good

as the coffee and
cigarette attacked his system,
memory cells awakened and the
harsh
reality dawned on him ,
a reality he didn't
want to face,


erudite my arse , he said as
he lit the second cigarette
of the day

as
the memories flooded over the temporary flood
barriers
installed in his mind ,
and his mind became awash with
evidence of
what a vicious man he could
be

he would have to become an expert
bridge
builder
a brunel
build a suspension bridge to carry
the memories
away,
or a steam ship to dump them into
a stormy sea
to be washed away