PostPoems Be Artistic. Be Creative. Be Inspired!

Igor’s Checkpoint Charlie

is a bar in New Orleans

at the bottom of the Esplanade

on the outskirts of Marigny.

It’s an old dive bar that

alleges to include a laundromat.

They have live music

and pub grub

& a lively blend of local flavor

and unsuspecting tourists.

A band is on stage playing

“One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer”

harking memories of John Lee Hooker.

A few people are

sucking down Abita Ambers

while another is wolfing down

a cheeseburger with fries.

There’s a guy having

a loud phone conversation-

apparently with his mother.

He doesn’t want

to go back to the funny farm.

He seems inebriated.

The bartender seems to know him

but she seems to want him gone.

He isn’t bothering me yet

so I find it amusing.

“Mom, I don’t wanna 

go back to the funny farm.”

Then a guy comes in

and starts talking to him.

He starts calming down 

and then he seems despondent

as they leave the bar together.

I learn from the bartender

that he’s a local guy 

and does have mental illness.

He really was taken away

to a clinic for mental illness.

I always expect to be entertained

when I’m in New Orleans.

There’s always amazing 

and unexpected madness

but a guy getting escorted 

off to the funny farm—

That’s a new one

and surprising

even by N’awlins standards.