Night Bugs

Just before the big bang I'm having a beer
with my buddies. We're crowded in real close,
like hockey night at the tavern, it's getting hot
and we're crammed in, nobody can move.

Finally there's a flash-bang and we rush into the street
and the clear night, it's refreshing to be out
of the stuffiness, out where we can brush off
the dust, stretch and breathe, watch the neon

flicker and flare. Some of the girls start a line
dance and weave from one street light to the next,
three guys hang on to each other
and spin in circles. I go the other way,

alone into the empty sky, neon fades
in the distance behind me, night bugs
fly around. I haven't seen my buddies in years,
we keep getting farther apart.