Save It For Later

It's an all-night diner
on the side of an all-night highway
and a waitress who calls me baby,
who tells me about the worst of worst that
I haven't seen yet, don't want to see
even for the iron balls or the stories,
she says,
knowing I tell stories when I need to stand straight up



Hey, she says, snapping her fingers,
looking at me with ice-cold water between us,
Don't be such a sad motherfucker, ok?
I laughed, we laughed,
I said, Shit, and it took about three
seconds to say it all, those four letters,
because I've learned to extend words
in southern diners
She said it right back and took about twice as long
I said You can't make me blush just
by calling me baby
so she leaned forward
and said Then come to momma's house
and make her feel loved, on the inside,
again,
and I blushed,
and we laughed

Fuckin' storytellers, she said.