When Irish Eyes Are Smiling

“Do you know where the word ‘desire’ comes from?” the one time spelling bee champion of Akron, Ohio slurred to numb unlistening ears at the Irish bar not far from Cincinnati.

“It’s from Latin desiderare ‘long for, expect,’ from the phrase de sidere ‘from the stars’, like you’re waiting for what the stars will bring,” he mumbled robotically what his parents taught him decades ago.

Just drunk enough to remember their voices, he exited the bar to the alley, covering himself with newspaper beneath the many smiling eyes in the night sky and swore that he could feel their warmth.