Johnny Northern

2/22/2020 ☼ poems

may be the legend
you’ve never heard of
but i had the pleasure
of meeting him
at starbucks.

johnny
northern

was as majestic as
ever with his big fancy cowboy hat
from 1910
which he dons and shows off—

johnny
northern

is a rockstar,
goddamnit,
i ate my sandwich,
a beautiful young woman
sat in front of me
and

johnny
northern

charmed her too, and fuck,
i didn’t mind, i was honored
that my girl was
interesting to
the legend.

johnny
northern

and i
sang together:
“all my exes live in texas,
and texas is a place
i’d really love to be—
all my exes live in texas,
and that’s why i hang my hat in
n
y
c
”

johnny
northern

raised his hat off his head
and bowed
and i put my sandwich down,
took my girl
hand in hand
and

johnny
northern

lifted the hand of the
prettiest woman in the
starbucks
and we all four exited
with the entire store cheering,

!
johnny
!
northern
!

and i watched his legendary hat
and the glow from the lights of broadway
behind him and the most
beautiful woman i ever
did see as
they walked one block and took a
left into a building and

johnny
northern

placed his hand on her lower back,
held the door and ushered her in,
turned to his right,
tipped his hat to me and said
“there are men with
exes in texas
and there are the rest of them.”