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Nostalgia By Night

The night is young, but everyone is old
In this town’s restaurants and whiskey bars.
I dream of fireside wisdom—truths retold—
Yet all I hear? Worn lies of girls and cars.
The night is young, but everyone is sore
In this pretending jazz club, Blue Guitars.
I’m looking for a pathway or a door;
They’re absent in all of these au revoirs.
The night is young, and we’re all unaware
Of any counsel in our repertoires.
Temptations—cheap—I can find anywhere…
But I feel more content now with this certain farce.
Resigned to stalk the sidewalks of past lives,
I turn downtown to date in haunted dives.
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Ethan McGuire is a writer and healthcare cybersecurity professional whose essays, fiction, poetry, reviews, song lyrics, and translations have appeared in Blue Unicorn, The Dispatch, Emerald Coast Review, Literary Matters, The New Verse News, The University Bookman, Voegelin View, and many other publications. Ethan is a contributing editor at New Verse Review and the author of two poetry chapbooks, Before Apokalypto and Songs for Christmas. His debut book-length poetry collection, Apocalypse Dance, will be released in 2025 by Wipf & Stock. Ethan grew up in the Missouri Ozarks, lived in the Florida Panhandle on the Gulf of Mexico for twelve years, and is currently settled in Fort Wayne, Indiana with his wife and their children. To find Ethan, visit his website TheFlummoxed.com.

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