I shall drink less today

"I shall drink less today."

That is what he said when he entered the bar,

His forehead perspiring with sweat and his fingers trembling with thirst,

He sat at his usual corner and ordered the waiter to bring his favorite beer with a thundering voice!

"I shall drink less today"

That is what he told me when he noticed me,

The corners of his bushy mouth twisting to form a sheepish grin,

He gulped down the beer and ordered for another bottle,

His lethargic tongue rolling out to lick his tobacco stained lips!

"I shall drink less today,

My boss is still following me up to pay the loan,

My landlord is threatening to lock the house,

And my wife and children are waiting for food at home!"

That is what he said when he ordered his fifth drink,

His shaking hands allowing a glass to slip and break on the hard concrete floor!

"I shall drink less today,

The government is not doing much to raise the living standards of a common man like me,

And all the politicians are bloody liars!"

That is what he said when he staggered back to the bar from the stinking urinal pit,

His fly open and stains of drops of urine visible from his trousers!

"I shall drink less today,

And ooh, how I feel like laying a woman right now!"

That is what he said after drowning his tenth bottle,

His hands reaching out to touch the waiter’s stretch marked buttocks!

She slapped him hard on the face and he coiled back on his seat like a timid dog

He ordered for his eleventh bottle shouting, ’All women are Malaya’’

"I shall drink less today,"

That is the last thing he said before he fell with a thud on the hard floor, slipping into unconsciousness!

I too shall not drink much today,

That is the last thing I remember saying to my half-conscious friend!

Or was it the waiter I talked to??

(image credits: CBS news)