LAST NEXT START END

OLD PARTIES Listening to Leonard Cohen I thought of the night Yvonne Tried to slash her wrists; The night Daphne walked into the lake. (And nights when others died.) Only drama for effect. One got stitches; The other wet. We all got drunk; Ralph laughed, Dave smiled, Gordon cried. The party broke up at four. The car had a flat. We ran out of gas. Somebody screamed in the back of the bus. Somebody barfed on the wheel well. All was well.