HE TRADED ME HIS SOUL FOR A WHISKEY AND WATER (and now he wants it back)

he traded me his soul for a whiskey and water
(and now he wants it back)
while I was tending bar one night
the Kid had gotten drunk
and without any money
as was usually his situation
he offered me his soul
if I would give him a whiskey and water
I might have given him the drink, anyway
him being a friend and all
but it seemed a good opportunity
the investment in a thing
which is said to be invaluable and eternal
so I gave him the whiskey and water
and acknowledged receipt of his soul
but because I was very drunk, too
I quickly forgot about the trade.
eventually the Kid reformed his ways
been sober now for a long time
and he wants his soul back
it comes up often in our conversations
he’ll be talking about something
and then say, “oh, by the way, about
my soul…could I get that back from you?”
he claims it’s beginning to shine again
that all the layers of filth and muck and sin
are melting and dripping off
and that someday soon
it may have some real value. of course
the Kid is in it just for the money
the dirty, little punk
so when he brings it up I laugh
and sip at my beer
shrug him off, thinking
if my liver doesn’t give out first
it’ll be nice to have a spare soul around