brautigan: the winos on potrero hill

Alas, they get
their bottles
from a small
neighborhood store.
The old Russian
sells them port
and passes no moral
judgment. They go
and sit under
the green bushes
that grow along
the wooden stairs.
They could almost
be exotic flowers,
they drink so
quietly.

The Winos on Potrero Hill
by Richard Brautigan
from The Pill Versus The Springhill Mine Disaster
(Dell Books, 1968)