we pulled a set of jumper cables out of the trunk
and all the problems of the world
were solved

we put Howlin Wolf on the record player
and the future we weren’t planning
faded away

we got another twelve-pack
because it seemed
like the right thing to do

we felt old and wise
but were only cynical and jaded
dead-ending out of fear

tomorrow would never come
odds were we’d die young

so the vital effort required
to give a damn
seemed pointless to muster

so we stayed where it was safe
with the bong and the beer
under the dust-laden ceiling fan

the bravery of giants
roaring from the stereo
smoke screening the chances we had pissed away

__________________________

The poem is as it appears in Bob’s collection titled into the cold wind: winter poems (Buy Me Lunch, 2010)