At the Tavern

By David W. Berner

PROMPT — The way I see it ...

Late Tuesday afternoon dram

in dim light, against dark wood,

with the remains of the day’s sun

slipping through the open oak door.

Dog at my side, a single salesman

at the bar, compass tattoo on his

forearm, his head in a flight

of cider.

At the window, an old man in a tan

baseball cap steadies past,

carrying fresh shirts from the

laundry; a young woman in

Wayfarers lowered from her eyes,

stepping off with a basket of

yellow mums.

And the radio plays Dylan and

The Monkees and Bad Company

and I wonder what they’re doing

at Davy Byrnes in Dublin on an

October Irish evening on the other

side of the world.

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David W. Berner's prose—including memoir, novels, short stories, and essays—has been honored by the Chicago Writers Association, the Eric Hoffer Awards, and the National Association of Independent Writers and Editors, to name a few. His poetry has been published in Beyond Words, Mocking Owl Roos Literary Magazine, and others. His debut collection was released this fall, Garden Tools: Poems from Finshing Line Press. David also has been honored as the Writer-in-Residence at the Jack Kerouac Project and at the Ernest Hemingway Birthplace Home and Museum. And in 2026, he will take on the role of the first poet laureate of Clarendon Hills, Illinois.