After the Kentucky Derby
by Robert Penick
for Thomas M. McDade
The day after the Kentucky Derby
all the tourists head for home,
their heads swollen with hangover,
their pockets holding only lint.
Standing in line for twelve-dollar beer,
they didn’t notice being processed
like a part on an assembly line
or an application working its way
through the Department of Motor Vehicles.
They are pinballs, rolling through
lines to bet, lines to drink, and riding
the slow conveyor into the restrooms.
Nearly everything siphons money,
but they’re high on twelve-dollar beer and
haven’t had fun in months, perhaps years.
Later, back home, they’ll brag about
the time spent at the racetrack,
offering their empty pockets and
losing tickets as proof.
The poetry and prose of Robert L. Penick have appeared in well over 200 different literary journals, including The Hudson Review, North American Review, Plainsongs and Oxford Magazine. The Art of Mercy: New and Selected Poems is now available from Hohm Press, and more of his work can be found at theartofmercy.net.
