My Coat

is stinky
and
smelly.
It reeks of second-hand smoke from bars in Prague
and spilled German beer.
It's
missing a button now.
The seams in the shoulder are coming apart
from humping my backpack like a
voyageur.
And
there's a stain on the front.
I think it's falafel sauce
from
the sandwich I ate with
my buddy from Scotland.

Soon I'll be home
and
I will dryclean this jacket.
I will sew the seams
back
together
and
put the button back on.

And all of the stink and the reek and the splashes of puddles from the streets that I walked on
and the saliva sprays from conversations
with strangers who are now friends
and the falafel sauce
will be gone.

It's sad, when you think about it.
But you should wear a clean coat
in polite society.


Jim out.