Spirits

We patronised a haunted pub
and on reaching the bar I asked
what spirits were spooking
the optics today. The barmaid
laughed, her back to me, but when she
turned I saw the palest girl I’d ever seen,
smiling from ear to ear, a second smile
drawn across her throat in deepest red.
‘Vodka, brandy, absinthe, gin’ she said,
‘but I’ll be honest, chuck, our cocktails’ll
make you wish you’d left your spirits dead.’