Dave Newman

At a Strip Club in the Middle of Pennsylvania

She moves my beer bottle out of reach
and says “I have a clumsy ass.”

Spread across the bar she scissor-kicks
and grabs her ankles then cradles her tit.

Some Japanese writing is tattooed
a few inches to the left of her g-string.

I try to make out the design
while she makes sexy stripper faces.

She points at the ink and says “Mother first.”
“As in?” I say.

She crawls back on to the dance floor.
“As in” she says “I have kids at home.”

I take a swig off my beer
and stop to applaud the moment.

She leans in to me with a smile
her tits pushed together like a basket.

I give her one dollar for the performance
another dollar for the kid at home.

She thanks me with a kiss on the cheek
then pets my head like a small poodle.