Billy Collins
Drinking Alone
After Li Po
This is not after Li Po
the way the state s after me
for neglecting to pay al my taxes,
nor the way I am after
the woman in front of me
on the long line at the post office.
Li Po, I am not saying
“After you”
as I stand holding open
one of the heavy glass doors
that divide the centuries
in a long corridor of glass doors.
No, the only way this is after you
is in the way they say
it’s just one thing after another,
like the way I will pause
to raise a glass of wine to you
after I finish writing this poem.
So let me get back
to sitting in the wind alone
among the pines with a pencil in my hand.
After all, you had your turn,
and mine will soon be done
then someone else will sit here after me.
