Staring At Your Empty Chair

I take my seat at the restaurant
Table for one
An empty chair across from me
Your chair

I sit there looking at the menu
I wonder what I would have said
To make you crack a smile
To hear you laugh

The waiter asks for my drink order
I’ll take a beer—a Hoegaarden, please
What would you have ordered?
Or would you have just sipped off of mine?

Silence
I drink my beer in silence
It was never this silent
When you were sitting across from me

I make no snarky comments about the
Lady across from us who is too fat
Or that big-breasted chick on the right
Or how you should just order your own damn beer

I place my order
Something filling and hearty
You would have ordered
Something with shrimp in it

Running low on my first glass
I would have ordered two
Just to stop you
From sipping off of my beer

I look at the empty chair
My hand would have been on your thigh
I would be kissing you
Teasing you

We would forget our troubles
My heavy drinking and lewdness
My anger and aggression
My philandering

The food is here
After I took my first few bites
I would have taken some of yours
You would have taken some of mine

The check is here
It would have been my turn to pay
I’d let you handle the tip
And we’d be on our way

I leave alone
Our good times are over
I wonder who will take your place
In that empty chair