The Barkeep's Chandelier

​If you don’t look carefully 
it’s like any other chandelier 
shimmering prim 
from the finial.                          
If you do,
you’ll see medic-alert charms                        
Hygeia bowls and dollar signs cut 
from Bohemian glass.                      

This barkeep commissioned it
to illuminate
an otherwise sparse space.

If you listen carefully 
the barkeep can explain 
how pharmacy benefit managers
and drug companies 
and their lobbyists work.
Then, 
he’ll hear what you have to say. 
He’ll measure and pour 
and listen. 

He’ll listen fully to you 
as all good barkeeps do.


​

"The Barkeep's Chandelier" was published by the journal North of Oxford in February, 2025.

Image cropped from a photograph by Alex Voulgaris for Unsplash.