I Went Into The Maverick Bar

I went into the Maverick Bar
In Farmington, New Mexico,
And drank double shots of bourbon
                                  backed with beer.
My long hair was tucked up under a cap
I'd left the earring in the car.

Two cowboys did horseplay
                                   by the pool tables,
A waitress asked us
                                   where are you from?
a country-and-western band began to play
"We don't smoke Marijuana in Muskokie"
And with the next song,
                                   a couple began to dance.

They held each other like in High School dances
                                    in the fifties;
I recalled when I worked in the woods
                                    and the bars of Madras, Oregon.
That short-haired joy and roughness--
                                   America--your stupidity.
I could almost love you again.

We left--onto the freeway shoulders--
                                    under the tough old stars--
In the shadow of bluffs
                                     I came back to myself,
To the real work, to
                                      "What is to be done."

~Gary Snyder