Coronavirus and the Corner Bar
He scrubbed the bar with cleanser and moved apart the chairs
with six feet in between them and just a few in pairs.
He sterilized the counter with that gelatinous goo
that had become ubiquitous, as he was told to do.
He laid off all his servers and bartended well-masked,
ready to do with diligence whatever he was asked.
Yet his barstools sat neglected, for no one came to play
and his profit margin was shrinking every day.
His savings were depleted by rent and overhead
as all his favorite regulars stayed at home in bed.
When he looked at the percentages, he knew he had to act.
In one month he’d be ruined—bankrupted, in fact.
He took a bottle of the gin he’d used to such acclaim,
forgot vermouth and olives, taking careful aim,
to spill it down the counter where it ran down to the rug,
then upset a candle and departed with a shrug.
Carefully he locked the door, got in his car and left.
Basically broken-hearted, feeling gutted and bereft.
He saw flames in his rear-view mirror, his problems rectified
as he took the only out, committing barmecide.
Prompts for today are cleanser, basic, barmecide, acclaim and percentage. Photo by Jack Prichett on Unsplash, used with permission.
P.S. If you wondered, as I did, what “barmecide” really means, as an adjective it means illusory or imaginary and therefore disappointing. As a noun, it means a person who offers benefits that are illusory or disappointing. Nope, I just couldn’t inflict that upon you.
lifelessons - a blog by Judy Dykstra-Brown 
I think it was an appropriate use of the word.
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My cousin owned a pub the government killed it and then he committed suicide. Then they faked his death certificate to say he died of the virus. Time for the crap to end and people to get their lives back.
Great poem, Judy
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Oh no. What a sad story. I guess in a way he did die due to coronavirus.
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I don’t agree Mason, the government did not kill his bar, the ignorance of people did. The Government did not bring on that Virus or the end of his business, but yes, the head of our government was very slow in making people understand this, and the lack of people understanding the problem helped a lot. The world will keep turning, and so will all those people who deny facts~! We can only hope that they will, some day, stop worshiping an earthly false God.
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Well we’ll forver have different opinions, Sam.
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Oh Judy so well said and written, but also sad, and I wonder how many times this has happened over the past year~! Yes I am one of those who did not help prevent it, (for good reason), though “off city drinking places” are popping up like toadstools out here and it is now a danger driving on my once lonely road on weekends.
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I think this happened to my favorite Corner Bar long before Coronavirus reared it’s ugly arms. No fire, though.. just the closing of the teachers’ favorite bar in Cheyenne when I taught there in my twenties.
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Excellent! Such a fun poem, though a sad waste of gin…😉 Thank you for the laugh. You are very witty.
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Gin is my imbibement of choice, as well. Yes, I know it isn’t a word, but should be…
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I have Barkeeper’s cleanser and it’s better than comet. I’m SURE it could clean any bar, so it is probably chockfull of barmecide!
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No no my dear. Barmecide is when you kill your bar.
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Our daily word posts covered somewhat similar ground today, but yours, of course, was much more poetic.
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Aha.. I commented on your…
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