Cody Lee Pey

Outside the Bar

I follow Brooks as he follows Dean 

as he follows Fabio who I don’t know 

besides how his ass looks in leather. And 

all of us are too drunk to make a choice, 

or be left alone, in the heat of De-

cember. And then I mistake the neon 

name of the bar for an omen. So 

I stand in the intersection. These men will

confess to me how small their lives are and 

then climb inside of me. And I will mis-

take all of their burdens and victories 

as mine, as Brooks and Dean and Fabio 

confess I don’t have, I don’t have, I don’t 

have until I, too, chant the same tune.

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Beer

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Annie Ernaux said: “Only beginnings 

           are truly beautiful,” with which I disagree. 

Still the beer is with us, on the table, 

           warm in the ice bucket.

Cody Lee Pey is a queer writer and palliative care social worker. Their work has been published in the Bear Review, The Offing, and X-R-A-Y Literary Magazine, amongst others. They can be found on Instagram @codyleepey.