Two men talk about the blues

"How are you keeping?" he asks and they get
the bit about their respective newborns out of the way
and work their way down the chalkboard.
After their third pints he takes from his plastic bag the CDs
he borrowed last time he went round for dinner
now burnt onto his Dell
and he listens to them every night in the room that used to be his office
him on his comfy chair with his probably too expensive headphones
and a four pack from the corner shop
'my treat' he tells himself but the man behind the counter seems very familiar.
Nice newsagent. One of the best he's had.

If it wasn't for the blues they'd be nothing.
This ability to have a few pints and head back
to one of their living rooms.
'Do you know Robert Johnson?'
'No.'
And suddenly Robert Johnson is in the five disc changer
he's been with longer than the mother of his boys
and when you listen to the blues
and talk about the blues
a board of cheeses appreciatesd as much as a tricky bass line
the more complex the music is they say
'You don't talk about your dad much'
or 'was it okay at the doctors'
or 'just pay me back when you can'
because the blues teaches you that worrying makes us stronger
and there is so much going on in our rib cages

without the blues they'd have just been two guys
on the same corridor in their first year
who didn't think it was worth spending money on a decent haircut
but then one night there was a knock on the door.
'I heard you listening to Leadbelly'
and an hour later it turned out they both also liked cricket
because with the blues there is so much heartbreak
but it's the stories. The stories the other had no idea
was so interesting
the blues is just talking.
Making each other laugh.