Chair

I am 28
Living in
The married
Students housing
By the river walking
Under the trees when
I see a man my age trying
To move a comfy chair from
His pickup truck to his apartment
So I help him move the chair and
The other furniture and as we
Work we talk about the work
Of Hemingway the intent of
Plots and lines sweating
In the Austin summer
Until the pickup is
Unloaded and
Whenever we
Run into one
Another at
Our seedy
Housing
Area we
Ask about
The other’s
Spouse and I
Smile and say
“I am still drinking
Her whisky” though
I do not drink but always
Breaks him into a big smile
As his wife would not help him
Unload their furniture and I felt he
Did drink and I wondered about
How they were doing living in
Old army officers quarters
With peeling paint made
Of lumber square boxes
Row on row but trees
And a river breeze
Across from golf
Fairways green
If a bit moldy
Seaming in
Tensions
Of young married
Couples many with kids
All struggling to graduate still
Married so I guess my friend whom
I helped move furniture was still
Drinking his wife’s whisky and
Living with her because no
Better arrangement was
Available but I knew
Once they had kids
All that would be
Over since kids
Focus us on
The task of
Raising
Them
But
Couples
Who chose
Not to raise kids
Were caught in a plot
Of some Hemingway novel.